Amidst the prevailing gloominess over agrarian crisis, a recently released report says that the growth rate of agricultural output in both India and China were the same during 2008-2013. The agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) of both these countries on an average grew at 3.3 percent per annum during that period. The latest available data from the 2016 Global Food Policy Report, however, indicates that the neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka...

-The Hindu Business Line Hyderabad: The three-day Kisan Swaraj Sammelan, which concluded here on Sunday, has called for an income guarantee scheme for farmers. The meeting, attended by farmers’ representatives and non-governmental organisations, from 25 States in the country, demanded that the Union government must bring out an Act to ensure minimum incomes for farmers. In a declaration announced at the end of the three day convention, the conference called for enactment...

-The Hindu In the area of intellectual property, public health and access to medicines, the Narendra Modi government should consider its independence to be of the utmost importance. Strong government leadership as well as flexible intellectual property systems are needed in order to effectively combat drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) and HIV and also antimicrobial resistance and non-communicable diseases. This is true not only for India but also countries which rely on affordable generic...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today said it was not possible on its part to order mining activities in the state's bauxite-rich Niyamgiri hills unless the gram sabhas and others likely to be affected by it were also heard in the matter. The apex court asked the Odisha Mining Corporation, which had sought fresh gram sabhas to consider the contentious Niyamgiri mining issue, to make the 14 gram sabhas, which...

-BBC KM Yadav has helped hundreds of Indian villagers access crucial government information that has helped them claim their benefits and rights. Vikas Pandey meets him at his "office" in Chaubepur village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Mr Yadav is patiently listening to a group of villagers as he serves them hot tea from his stall. This tea stall is indistinguishable from the many others dotted across India's towns and villages...