HANOVER: U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended a free trade agreement under negotiations between the U.S. and European Union on Sunday, saying the agreement will benefit the economy on both sides of the Atlantic.

In a joint press conference in the northern German city of Hanover, Obama said it is "indisputable" that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will make both the EU and U.S. economy stronger and more competitive compared to other regions of the world.

"The United States and the European Union need to keep moving forward with the TTIP," he said after holding talks with Merkel in his final visit to Germany as the U.S. President.

"It is very helpful to allow our economy in Europe to grow, It' s important for the German economy, it's important for the European economy," said Merkel, adding that both the EU and U.S. have an interest to speed up negotiations which was launched in July 2013.

A new round of talks over the agreement is scheduled to start in the U.S. next week. On Saturday, tens of thousands of people protested in Hanover streets against the agreement.

A recent survey found that public support for the agreement dropped sharply in both Germany and the U.S. in recent years. Concerns of the opponents include declines in consumer and labour protection, environment standards as well as the secrecy of the negotiations.

Obama said differences between the two sides are narrowing and he's confident that the agreement will be completed finally although he cannot anticipate that the deal will be ratified by the end of this year.

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'Indian Pharma Market Growing At Over 2 Lakh Crore'

NEW DELHI: India's pharmaceutical industry, with a market size of over 2 lakh crore, ranks third in volume and 13th in value across the globe, it was announced on Sunday.

"The pharmaceutical industry ranks 3rd in volume and 13th in value across the globe and has a market size of 2,52,000 crore as in 2016," the Jaipur-based IIHMR University, which is also a WHO collaborating centre for district and primary healthcare, said in a release here at the end of a national symposium it organised.

"The industry is likely to create over 1.30 lakh jobs in 2016 itself," university president S.D.Gupta said in the statement.

It cited the India Skills Report to say that 21.05 percent of candidates for management positions in 2016 will be hired in the pharma and healthcare sectors.

According to industry chamber CII, India has around 300 large and 8,000 small and medium scale pharma units at present with over 20,000 manufacturers in both the organised and unorganised segments.

"The India pharma industry has 77 percent formulation manufacturers and 23 percent bulk drug manufacturers with 169 FDA (US) approved plants and 153 EDQM (European directorate for Quality (EU) approved facilities at present," the statement said.

"There is a rise in the need for vaccines due to an increase in the sedentary lifestyle giving a rise to chronic lifestyle diseases, which will become dominant in the next 5-10 years," it added.

It further cited India Skills Report 2016 to say that across India, the percentage increase in hiring numbers for pharma and healthcare have been 25 percent and above.

"According to 'Makeinindia.com', the Indian market is the world's 6th largest pharma market and will be the 3rd largest market by 2020. The generics market is expected to grow to $26.1 billion by 2016 from $11.3 billion in 2011.

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