-TheWire.in The negotiator’s comments were non-committal but indicated that for now, the RCEP talks have not yet moved decisively into a TRIP-plus scenario. The chief negotiator for New Zealand, at the Asia trade pact talks in Hyderabad this week, made pointed reference to TRIPS-plus (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) provisions, saying that while the TRIPS agreement on intellectual property rights was sufficient, it was up to the countries to analyse whether...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Tiger reserves: Economic and environmental win-win -D Balasubramanian
-The Hindu The headline in a recent PTI report “Saving 2 tigers gives more value than Mangalyaan”’ was intriguing, since it said that saving two tigers yields a capital benefit of Rs. 520 crores, while Mangalyaan cost us Rs. 450 crores. The headline was both exciting and hurtful. Excited by it, I contacted Professor Madhu Verma of the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, and she shared with me both...
More »India, China seek reduction in farm subsidies by West -Sidhartha
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Even as the Chinese state media turned shriller on India and accused foreign minister Sushma Swaraj of lying to Parliament on the Doklam impasse, India and China are working together at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to get developed countries such as the US and the European Union members to reduce subsidies for farm products that are detrimental to exports from developing and poor countries. Earlier...
More »Think beyond loan waivers -Ramesh Chand & SK Srivastava
-The Hindu Strengthening the repayment capacity of farmers by improving and stabilising their income is the only way to keep them out of distress Indian Agriculture is characterised by low scale and low productivity. About 85% of the operational landholdings in the country are below 5 acres and 67% farm households survive on an average landholding of one acre. More than half of the area under cultivation does not have access to...
More »The draft laws for organic foods, if cleared, will adversely affect small farmers -Chandra Bhushan
-Hindustan Times The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s new certification regulation is going to hinder the growth of the sector. Instead of targeting small farmers, why not make laws that require mandatory labelling of foods grown with pesticides, chemicals or GMO etc? The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently announced the Draft Food and Standards (Organic Food) Regulations, 2017, aimed at curbing sale of fake organic...
More »