-The Times of India NEW DELHI: While the enormous health benefits of universal and sustained breastfeeding of children are well known, new evidence suggests that there is a significant Economic Cost as well. Research by medical journal Lancet reports a loss of $0.6285 billion or about Rs 4,300 crore annually. Not just that. If India were to universalise breastfeeding in the coming years, it could reduce 13% of all under-5 deaths...

-Hindustan Times In Bollywood romcoms, mustard fields glowing iridescent yellow are an oft-used backdrop for romantic songs. Remember the iconic 1995 hit, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge Mustard, as it were, is an onscreen metaphor for vigour and youthful passion. However, looked through a farm scientist’s lens, the traditional Indian mustard isn’t genetically very impressive. It is only half as robustly growing as its east European cousins. Low yields mean India has to...

-The Hindu The formal signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by the 12 member-countries of the mega-regional free trade agreement is a milestone for international trade and, by extension, the global economy. With worldwide trade having slowed sharply since the 2008 financial crisis and now faced with headwinds from China’s slowdown, the deal, yet to be ratified, could provide a much-needed fillip to growth. As the World Bank noted in a...

-The Indian Express We have turned our back to the intense food and drinking water distress across states India has transformed spectacularly in innumerable ways in the last two decades. One of the least noted changes is in the way the country — governments, the press and people — respond to drought and food scarcities. Back in the late-1980s, many states across India were reeling under back-to-back droughts for three consecutive years, not...

-The Hindu The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY), which the NDA government showcases as the shield against all risks faced by farmers, has failed to be universal because there is a need for a comprehensive crop and income insurance scheme covering income and yield risks for all farmers and all crops. All India Kisan Sabha joint secretary Vijoo Krishnan said on Tuesday that farmer suicides had continued nationwide for more than...