-Economic and Political Weekly While the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 is a progressive piece of legislation that recognises farmers' rights to seed, it demands payment of an annual maintenance fee by the farmers to protect the varieties which they have been cultivating and conserving for years, only because these varieties have been brought under legal protection through national legislation. Parameswaran Prajeesh (prajeesh@mssrf.res.in) is a researcher with the...

-Outlook The NDA seems bent on subverting the RTI Act. Is the slow dismembering of the CIC part of the plan? We Have No Recall For the first time since its inception, CIC's functions expropriated by the govt A search committee set up to appoint a new CIC chief says meeting details cannot be revealed; "highly confidential" RTI appeals pertaining to prime depts...

-Frontline If Budget 2015 is any indication, the Modi government is going beyond what could be called benign neglect of agriculture to policy moves that are likely to harm its viability. IT is scarcely surprising that farmers are upset with the Narendra Modi government. Indeed, the rosy dreams created by that famous campaign advertisement of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), when farmers spoke of the high crop prices and better cultivation conditions...

-The Hindu Accepting that political parties were in violation of its order, the Central Information Commission however said it was unable to impose any action against them, a move that the petitioners called "an abdication of its responsibilities." Faced with the only such case of non-compliance in the RTI's history, the CIC, in an order posted on Monday night, said that further action could be taken by the Union government...

-The Hindu The Law Commission has recommended that newspaper advertisements on the eve of elections be banned. In a report released on Thursday, the commission wanted Independent candidates to be barred from contesting elections, and paid news made an electoral offence leading to disqualification. Headed by Justice A.P. Shah, the commission submitted its 255th report, on the issue of electoral reforms, to the Union Law Ministry. Noting that the ban on broadcast...