-The Hindu Business Line Output data is unreliable, which leaves us unprepared for shortages. And, farming practices are primitive The price of potatoes is once again moving up, largely due to the demand-supply gap in the market-place. The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) that was asked by the Ministry of Civil Supplies to explore the possibility of importing potatoes from Russia, China and Egypt, procured 3,500 tonnes of potatoes...

-PTI Chandigarh: Experts at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) meeting on agriculture here today raised concern over high water consuming crops after the advent of green revolution. They pitched in favour low water consuming, heat-resistant high-production crops. On the second day of the session on impending food crisis of the world due to explosion of population, they stressed on finalising a blueprint to enhance agriculture production by at least 50 per cent by...

-The Hindu Business Line The Government has constituted an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) think-tank to help draft a new National IPR Policy and to advice it on issues related to intellectual property. The think-tank, headed by Justice Prabha Sridevan, will highlight anomalies in the present IPR legislations and advice the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on possible solutions, according to an official release. It will also provide views on the possible...

-The Hindu Puducherry (Tamil Nadu): S. Janaki, a farmer, laughs when she says she is unsure of what to do with the extra time that she now has. "Earlier, I used to have back problems because of the tiring labour involved in paddy cultivation. Now, I find working in the field much easier and that it involves lesser time," she adds. Janaki is among a group of 15 farmers in Vinayagampet village...

-The Indian Express Mumbai: In a move that has Right To Information activists up in arms, the administration of Governor-ruled Maharashtra has issued a directive to all departments and offices, asking them not to provide any information under the RTI Act if it "does not constitute any public interest". While government officials say the objective of the directive is to merely restrict those misusing RTI, activists describe it as a move to...