M Paz Avila

In NLSIRO’s latest piece, Stella James and Nayana Udayashankar argue that fishworkers have been systematically excluded from rightful access to, and governance of commons, on the justification of economic development. They look at this issue of loss of access in reference to the tourism industry. The piece briefly looks at the historical governance of coastal commons and traces the changes to the governance systems that accompanied the Coastal Regulation Zone notifications. It concludes that laws and policies have been framed to support massive industrialization of the Indian coast, while violating fundamental rights.

Almost as if it was foreshadowing the COVID-19 pandemic, the New Drugs and Clinical Trial Rules, 2019 (‘NDCTR’/ ‘Rules’) brought about significant developments by consolidating and streamlining the framework for regulating clinical trials and approvals thereof. However, the circumstances in the recent past have raised questions as to whether these new Rules, in their attempt to promote robust clinical research in India, have compromised on the safety and efficacy of trials, making them more sponsor-friendly. This piece explores such issues in the context of striking the right balance between the two.