-Outlook India has long been the sleeping giant of global agriculture. But its misguided policies while boosting short-term output, yet may transform India into a food importer After decades on the sidelines of international agricultural trade, India was poised last year to become a major food supplier, overtaking traditional exporters of food grain and meat. This could prove to be flash in the pan. The sudden rise and fall of India...

-Live Mint Tariffs reach at least Rs.4 per unit in many states, finds analysis, amid efforts to bail out state discoms Indian domestic consumers in 16 states are paying at least `4 per unit for power and in some cases even more, according to an analysis, thus giving the lie to the long-held axiom that raising tariffs is nearly impossible in India given the political compulsions. The finding also shows conclusively that...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court order rejecting a plea to grant patent protection for Glivec, a cancer-fighting drug from Novartis, is a landmark. It will greatly strengthen the quest for access to affordable medicines in India. The decision affirms the idea that a patent regime loses its social relevance when a drug is priced beyond the reach of the vast majority of a country's people. That pharmaceutical companies employ high pricing...

-The Hindu Guwahati: An indefinite curfew was clamped and the Army was called out in Assam's silk village Sualkuchi on Saturday after a protest by weavers turned violent. They were opposing procurement by local traders of mekhla chadors (traditional attire of Assamese women) made of silk from Varanasi. Three persons sustained bullet injuries when police fired rubber bullets at the protesters. Earlier, the police tried in vain to control the situation by resorting...

-The Times of India At a time when the government is facing trouble maintaining its fiscal health and is set to add over Rs 1.25 lakh crore to its subsidy bill for providing food security to its poor, the UPA has burdened the exchequer further by exporting wheat at lower than its cost price - incurring an estimated loss of over Rs 1,700 crore. Sources in the finance ministry said the loss...