-The Hindu There are formidable social, economic and environmental reasons why it should not be cultivated The manner in which the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) recently cleared the proposal for genetically modified (GM) mustard is extraordinary to say the least. It makes a mockery of the commitment in the Bharatiya Janata Party manifesto that “GM foods will not be allowed without full scientific evaluation on the long term effects on...

-Down to Earth None of the 30 low and middle-income countries analysed met the standards of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women In what could be a wake-up call to global conservation efforts, a new report by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) says that legal protections for indigenous and rural women to own and manage property are missing in India and 29 other...

-The Hindu Business Line Crop gets Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh per quintal Jaipur: As part of its crop diversification efforts, Rajasthan will encourage over 50,000 farmers to take up cultivation of super foodgrain quinoa this year, said State Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Lal Saini. Rajasthan State Seeds Corporation, which engaged some farmers to grow quinoa seeds on an experimental basis, has managed to raise over 20,000 quintals of seed...

-Hindustan Times There are almost no jobs available in India’s high-growth economy. Job creation has plummeted to levels even below those of preceding UPA governments. Of the one million new people who join the workforce every month, only 0.01% of new workers added to the work force actually found work. For millions of young voters Prime Minister Modi’s most alluring election promise in 2014 was that his government would create ten million...

-Livemint.com A new research by ‘Lancet’ shows India ranks 154 out of 195 countries in terms of access to healthcare, which is worse than Bangladesh, Nepal, Ghana and Liberia Why is it that the world’s fastest growing major economy ranks below much poorer nations such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Ghana and even Liberia when it comes to healthcare for its masses? Last week, new research by medical journal Lancet, on the basis of...