-DNA Joining ranks with nearly ten other big states, Gujarat government has now decided not to allow field trials of any Genetically Modified (GM) food crops within its boundaries. The decision is a significant one as it comes from the home state of prime minister Narendra Modi which he was leading till few months ago. Now with Gujarat also saying no to field trials of GM crops, Maharashtra remains the only state...
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Diesel & wages to push up food inflation -Mayank Mishra
-The Business Standard A delayed monsoon has forced farmers in Western UP to use alternative sources of irrigation, incurring 25-30% extra costs Saharanpur/Muzaffarnagar (UP): If the latest inflation reading at eight per cent, largely fuelled by near double-digit food inflation, has left us worried, get ready to pay even more for food in coming months. Though the monsoon deficit has reduced to only 17 per cent, the rise in input cost...
More »Cradle. Now, grave -Soumik Dey
-The Week Manorama Online Broken hearts float down the Bhakra Main Line canal. Broken by the endless struggle with the land, with the weather, with the creditor. Broken by broken promises, broken by the honour they lost, broken enough to kill themselves. And, at the sluice gate at Khanauri village they slow down, looking up with unseeing eyes. And, from the bridge across the canal, the beating hearts they broke look...
More »Govt stance at WTO belies assurance on food security, says farmers’ group
-The Hindu Business Line While some farmers organisations have welcomed the Narendra Modi Government's stance in World Trade Organisation, some others feel that the Government's actions do not match its words with regard to its stance on food security and farm subsidies at home. "We totally support the Government's stand on WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement. In fact, in a country like ours, agriculture should be totally kept out of the purview of...
More »Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal
-Economic and Political Weekly The emphasis on use of digital technologies to bridge the "rural-urban gap" in the union budget is limited to high talk and minimal allocations. The need for a more comprehensive and peoples' participation-oriented rural action plan should have been the focus while setting sectoral allocations, but that is not to be in this mid-year budget. Vipul Mudgal (vipulmudgal@gmail.com) heads the Inclusive Media for Change project at the Centre...
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