-The Hindu Legal researcher Usha Ramanathan speaks about the the modified draft Bill which continues to raise several critical concerns relating to privacy, ethical usage of DNA samples and DNA database. This week, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) uploaded a slightly modified draft of the Human DNA Profiling Bill on its website, opening up the controversial Bill, now tabled in Parliament, for public scrutiny. Legal researcher Usha Ramanathan, a member of the Committee...
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Push irrigation, not dams -Mihir Shah
-The Indian Express We can add millions of hectares to irrigated land without building a single new dam. We just need to adopt a different method of managing the water already stored in them. One of the drivers of India’s irrigation sector has been the construction of large dams on our rivers, which Jawaharlal Nehru famously described as “the temples of modern India”. While these dams have helped increase India’s irrigated...
More »25,000 Mathura farmers seek Prez permission to hang themselves
-The Times of India LUCKNOW: Around 25,000 farmers in Mathura have sought permission from President Pranab Mukherjee to commit suicide on August 15 after a 17-year-long struggle to get compensation from the government. What looks to be a new trend, the development comes a day after 70 Vyapam scam accused lodged in Gwalior, around 175 kms from Mathura, raised a similar demand, citing judicial disparity. Demanding compensation against 700 acre of their lands...
More »Copyrights for Farmers: Role of Agricultural Intermediaries -Shalini Bhutani
-Economic and Political Weekly A number of state agencies and non-governmental organisations have come forward to facilitate farmers/breeders to register their crop varieties and obtain plant variety certifi cates. But can these agencies bring forth a change in the mindset of the small farmers and seed savers' groups who view the current intellectual property regime with scepticism and continue to keep away from it? Shalini Bhutani (shalinibhutani@hotmail.com) is a legal researcher and...
More »SC calls for new law to regulate social media
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stressed the need for a new law to regulate social media to curb malicious and defamatory messages circulated online. Expressing concern over misuse of social media and internet, particularly after the controversial section 66A of the Information Technology Act was scrapped by the Supreme Court, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant said Parliament should bring a new...
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