-The Hindu It will be tabled in the winter session of the legislature Bengaluru (Karnataka): To regulate the prices of Bt cotton seeds in the State, the government is planning to introduce a Karnataka Cotton Bill, 2014, at the State legislature session to be held in Belagavi in December. The Bill envisages the constitution of an authority headed by the Director of the Agriculture Department for fixation of prices of Bt cotton seeds...

-The Hindu ‘Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, often ignored' Chennai: In a bid to keep track of the workforce from other States in the city, the Chennai police have decided to create a database of migrant labourers. On Saturday, a meeting was held between the police and members of Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI), builders and labour department officials at the Commissionerate. "Deputy commissioners will be the nodal officers to collect...

-The Times of India Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya, hereafter BP, have argued for phasing out the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in favour of cash transfers ("Rural Inefficiency Act", ToI, 23 October). It's surprising-and amusing-that two eminent economists have chosen to make a case based on prior beliefs and some sophomoric wordplay ('mis'leading economists), rather than on the available evidence. A survey by one of us of the empirical literature...

-The Times of India HYDERABAD: The city may not have to depend on neighbouring States for supply of vegetables much longer as the Telangana government has announced 75% subsidy for greenhouse farming in 1,000 acres around Hyderabad. In greenhouse farming, temperature is regulated in a way that it suits the crop being cultivated. "Vegetables that cannot be cultivated in a particular season can be cultivated any time of the year with greenhouse...

-The Hindu Reports that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government intends to radically restructure the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have re-ignited public discussion on the scheme. Since its launch, debate on MGNREGA has been synonymous with ideological contestations on the role of the state and its welfare functions. Inevitably, the contours of the debate have been shrill, leaving little space for an evidence-based discussion on the...