-TheWire.in There appears to be a deliberate effort to restrict the access to information and move away from transparency in governance. New Delhi: Since the Narendra Modi government came to power, access to information through the Right to Information (RTI) Act has diminished greatly, according to the annual report of the Central Information Commission (CIC) for 2014-15. The number of instances where information was denied for reasons other than those permitted under...

Like 2015, this year too unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm have taken the farmers by surprise. Recent media reports suggest that extreme weather event has damaged rabi crops in a number of states from north India. The Weekly Weather Report prepared for the week spanning 10-16 March, 2016, which was issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), shows that excessive rainfall was observed in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand,...

-People’s Democracy In the last week of February, a panel set up by the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body ruled against India on a complaint by the US in early 2013 that India’s Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) for some solar power projects violated WTO prohibitions on measures that result in “less favourable treatment” of international trade partners. The panel was ruling on an appeal by India in response to the original injunction...

-Business Standard Supply issues due to unseasonal rainfall behind price rise Mumbai: Green vegetables have become costlier in the past week owing to supply disruptions following intermittent unseasonal rainfalls and thunderstorms across major growing regions. In the benchmark Azadpur mandi in Delhi, the prices of cauliflower has risen the most by 58 per cent to trade currently at Rs 673 a quintal against Rs 427 a quintal a week ago. Interestingly, arrivals of cauliflower...

-Livemint.com The Union government has cut the prices of genetically-modified cotton seeds and slashed royalty fees by 74% The Union government’s decision to cut the prices of genetically-modified (GM) cotton seeds, popularly known as Bt cotton, and slash royalty fees, will have a positive impact on cotton farming in Maharashtra, India’s top state in terms of area under cotton cultivation. The Maharashtra government’s agriculture officials, cotton growers and officials at the Nagpur-based...