Bt cotton has doubled the seed industry and boosted the fortunes of seed firms. But yields still need to improve In the last 10 years, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton and its impact on farmers has perhaps been the most talked about topic in Indian agriculture since the ‘Green Revolution’ of the 1960s and 1970s. Not only has farmers’ income from growing Bt cotton risen by almost 67 per cent in the...

-The Economic Times A panel headed by Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, has suggested all government payments above Rs 1,000 be gradually made or received electronically to cut graft, and bring about greater transparency and accountability.  The panel has also recommended creation of a network of 10 lakh interoperable micro-ATMs operated by business correspondents to allow people to access their accounts at their own convenience and said...

-The Business Standard   A Nandan Nilekani-led task force on an Aadhaar-enabled unified payment infrastructure has recommended setting up a network of one million interoperable micro-ATMs across the country. The ATMs will be operated by business correspondents. The task force, headed by the Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, submitted its report to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday. The panel has suggested that in order to set-up this network quickly, a last-mile transaction...

-The Indian Express   Expressing concern over delay by the Centre and state governments in deciding mercy pleas of prisoners on death row, the Supreme Court today sought from them the records of all such cases. A Bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhyay said the home secretaries of all the states would send the records of all cases of mercy pleas to states within three days to the Centre,...

-PTI Expressing concern over delay by the Centre and state governments in deciding mercy pleas of prisoners on death row, the Supreme Court today sought from them the records of all such cases. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhyay said the home secretaries of all the states would send the records of all cases of mercy pleas to states within three days to the Centre, which would...