-Economic and Political Weekly The cultivation of geneticallymodified crops, especially food crops, is not just a domestic issue; it has an impact on global food trade as well. Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iimahd.ernet.in) is at the Centre for Management in Agriculture, IIM, Ahmedabad. There is no doubt that the application of biotechnology can lead to yield improvement, cost cutting and lower crop losses, besides providing more processable raw materials and designer products. That is why...

-Economic and Political Weekly Punjab's new agriculture policy based on a report prepared by the Committee for Formulation of Agriculture Policy for Punjab focuses on yield enhancement and market orientation instead of demand-driven agriculture. While the report talks about the need for diversification, it does not bother to analyse the failure of earlier policies. The report is on the whole short on analysis and long on recommendations. Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iimahd.ernet.in) is with...

The Centre has approved a performance related incentive scheme (PRIS) that will allow babus performing well to avail of cash incentives from the next fiscal onwards. A committee of secretaries chaired by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar approved the scheme last fortnight and has asked the Department of Expenditure to work out guidelines for its implementation. To avail of the incentive scheme, government departments will have to get a performance rating of...