-The Economic Times A change in the national accounts, slated to take place sometime in the next two years, will show that a resurgent farm sector is now the second biggest contributor to the economy, displacing manufacturing and financial services. The unexpected reversal is not just a statistical artefact. Instead it is an outcome of a change in the terms of trade, the price of agricultural produce compared to industrial output since...

-The Hindu The debate on the pros and cons of genetically engineered/modified crops is universal. In India, in the face of vociferous protests, the controversy has only deepened leading to a moratorium on cultivation of Bt Brinjal crop — the first GM food crop sought to be commercialised. Gargi Parsai spoke to Basudeb Acharia, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, on its new report, “Cultivation of Genetically Modified Food...

-The HIndustan Times The images bore an uncanny resemblance to Partition snap-shots. Trains packed with people barely able to find standing room, ferrying refugees in their own land.  Even the overflowing toilets were choc-a-bloc with panicky residents of the North-East. Everyone fleeing an unknown enemy, everyone desperate to get back to the security of their own homes. Two trains from Bengaluru chugged into Howrah station on Friday carrying thousands of passengers en route...

-The Hindu The West Bengal Human Rights Commission on Friday ordered an inquiry into the arrest of Shiladitya Chowdhury, who was apprehended by the security forces after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dubbed him a Maoist for questioning her government’s policies on agriculture, at a rally in the Maoist-affected Jangalmahal region last week. Chairman of the Commission Justice (retired) Asok Kumar Ganguly directed Additional Director-General of Police K.P.P. Rao to conduct an inquiry...

-The Hindu ‘Bill does not in any way infringe independence of judiciary’ Allaying the apprehensions expressed by Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia, the Centre on Friday made it clear that the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill would not in any way infringe the independence of the judiciary. The attempt to link the Bill with the independence of the judiciary was not based on facts, the Law and Justice Ministry said, in response...