In India, the Bt Brinjal is a hot potato. Never has the eggplant - still cheap in an inflation-hit country - attracted so much attention. "Brief 38", a primer on Bt Brinjal - the country's first genetically modified (GM) food - brought out by the International Service for Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications, is being downloaded 10,000 times a month. Genetically modified crops resist pests and give better yields as well as nutrition....

Another food crisis? This time it’s not shortages but prices—a plain failure of responsive policy and execution. Zooming food prices are raising political temperatures yet again. The rumblings, for once, are not merely restricted to the opposition parties, but evident within the ruling coalition as well. Though attacks from across the political spectrum have become a bit subdued of late, the target remains Union agriculture and food minister Sharad Pawar. And...

Food inflation inched up to 17.56% for the week ended January 23 on account of rising prices of potato and pulses.  The wholesale price-based food inflation was 17.40% in the previous week. Potato prices jumped by 44.91% over the last year, while pulses became dearer by 44.43%. The inflation for primary articles, which include food and non-food items, marginally eased to 14.56% in the reporting week from 14.66% in the...

Social networks like the twitter are abuzz with thought for food, and the Greenpeace India is preparing to cook world’s biggest ‘baigan bharta,’ to create public opinion against genetically modified crops. While the debate over the Bt. Brinjal heats up, the case of the humble ‘baigan’ is widely seen as the precursor for a flood of GM crops. (See links below for a wider picture). The Greenpeace has launched an on-line...

The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition by an NGO seeking to bar the over-the-counter sale of i-pill, an emergency contraceptive tablet, saying it was the same as abortion at home. The i-pill prevents pregnancy if a woman has it within 72 hours of sexual intercourse. While dismissing the plea by Krupa Prolifers as “not scientific”, the three-judge bench said admitting the plea may “scare people and send a wrong...