-The Business Standard   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can be assertive when he chooses to. He has certainly imposed his will on the government to push the case for the controversial genetically-modified (GM) food crops. Documents reviewed by Business Standard show, for almost two years, Singh and his office have been the moving force behind the decision to go ahead with field trials of GM crops, including food crops, without awaiting regulatory reforms...

-Outlook The fair sex got an unfair deal in the 15th Lok Sabha on the issue of reservation in legislatures despite the three top posts being occupied by women. The ambitious Women's Reservation Bill, which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in the lower house of Parliament and state assemblies for 15 years, failed to get the nod this time too though Sonia Gandhi was the UPA Chairperson, Meira Kumar...

-The Indian Express Pre-legislative scrutiny is a first step towards greater transparency in law-making. The committee of secretaries chaired by the cabinet secretary has decided that all bills proposed by the government should go through a process of pre-legislative scrutiny. This follows the recommendation of the National Advisory Council, which had suggested that all bills be taken through this process in order to garner public feedback at an early stage. Let us quickly...

-Grain.org "We take care of the cow and the cow takes care of us," says Marayal, a farmer in Thalavady, Tamil Nadu. Her two cows produce 6 to 10 litres of milk a day, which she sells for 30-40 cents per litre. Across India, there are millions of backyard dairy farmers like Marayal. Each owning just one or two cows, these farmers supply millions more families and hundreds of thousands of informal...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Even as commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma sought to push an interim solution or a "peace clause" that will prevent WTO members from seeking penalties from countries such as India for breach of subsidy cap, the Opposition parties and farmer groups have asked the government to reject the solution, arguing that it is not in the country's interests. At next week's Bali ministerial meeting,...