A small farmer in Maharashtra, whose high-yielding rice variety is popular in five States, is denied the benefits of his research. TWENTY-SEVEN years ago, Dadaji Khobragade of Nanded Fakir village in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra noticed yellow seeds in three spikes of a paddy stalk in his field. Intrigued by the freak harvest, he preserved the grains. He subsequently planted them in a six-foot square plot, which he covered with thorny...

Further political unrest in Andhra Pradesh may lead to jobs and investment being moved out of the state, industry bodies have warned amid the Telangana tension. “The politicians should realise that companies have the option to move jobs elsewhere,” Som Mittal, president of software industry body Nasscom, said at the weekend. He cited how jobs were moved out of Visakhapatnam to Chennai and Pune because of the counter-Telangana protests in 2009. “We have...

Since 1947, successive governments have missed innumerable opportunities to put the country on the path of sustained, inclusive growth. Time and again, quixotic ideology has led to meaningless debates, antediluvian policy and inexplicable strangulation of capacity buildup in both physical and social infrastructure. Even today, while the gap between current and projected national demand and supply is well acknowledged, the government continues to drag its feet in creating the policy...

Two large industrial projects, one poor state, two likely different outcomes — and a long-haired, flamboyant environment minister-turned-crusader starring in both. No, this is not your latest blockbuster but it has the makings of one. As reported Monday, Posco, the South Korean steelmaker, cleared a major regulatory hurdle in its bid for a massive steel project in Orissa. An environment ministry panel gave clearance for an initial steel production capacity of...

Over a month after the CBI cracked down on the alleged multi-crore kickbacks-for-loans scam, investigators are believed to have found irregularities in the loan files of at least eight companies, including Lavasa, DB Realty, Mantri Realty and Adani Group. In November, the CBI had arrested three members of Mumbai-based financial service company Money Matters and four others for their involvement in the alleged loan scam. The CBI, after going through loan...