-Frontline.in To rural India, which is already reeling under multiple crises, demonetisation has come as yet another blow. WHEN the Prime Minister made the decision to withdraw Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes, he did not quite factor in the impact it would have on agriculture. Despite the rhetoric the concept of digital wallets has not yet entered rural India unlike in much of the country’s urban areas, and much of rural and...

-The Telegraph The death of more than 50 dengue patients in eight city hospitals this year offers a peek into the severity of the menace but the extent of the crisis remains unknown in the absence of figures from the government. To put things in perspective, the disease caused by the Aedes aegypti mosquito had claimed less than 20 lives across the state last year. The Mamata Banerjee government's decision to prefer secrecy...

-The Indian Express The opposition’s main contention is that the GM mustard hybrid incorporates three alien genes — barnase, barstar and bar — rendering it inherently unsafe for human and animal health. Fifty years ago, Union Minister for Food and Agriculture Chidambaram Subramaniam took the decision to import 18,000 tonnes of seeds of Lerma Rojo 64A and Sonora 64 wheat from Mexico. The seeds arrived just in time for their planting in...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Those selling bottled water and cold drinks at more than their maximum retail price, including at airports, restaurants and multiplexes, could attract penalty and jail terms, consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday. Citing the common experience of consumers, the minister said packaged drinking water is often found selling at 10-20% higher rates at such locations and there are also cases where some of...

-PTI This rule will apply to essential commodities that are sold both in loose and packaged form in retail markets To check inflation, the government has amended the metrology rules which would allow it to fix retail prices of essential commodities like pulses and sugar in extraordinary situations. Under the present system, retail prices are fixed by market forces, leaving very little room for the government to check undue spike in prices. “We have...