-Reuters Monsoon rains continued below average in the past week, the weather office said today, keeping much of India's rain-fed areas still thirsty halfway through the June to September season. Monsoon rains were 20% below average in the week to July 25 after a 22% shortfall the previous week. But the rains improved over rice and soybean growing areas of eastern and central India, data published on the weather office's website showed. A GoM...

-The Guardian Higher disposable incomes, changing consumption patterns and the marketing might of powerful western brands are bringing fast food to India's children The camera pans in. The grins of smiling school children fill the frame. An enthusiastic teacher, played by a famous Bollywood actress, sits in the centre. The scene is a "remote picturesque setting". And all are munching happily on Domino's Pizza. The advert is typical of the marketing bombardment...

-Live Mint Natco Pharma Ltd, which has started selling a generic version of Bayer AG’s patented cancer treatment Nexavar in India at a fraction of the price charged by the German firm, plans to use the so-called compulsory licensing route to try and win the right to copy more patented drugs, said vice-chairman and chief executive officer Rajeev Nannapaneni. The Hyderabad-based company has already identified the patented drugs for which it will...

-Reuters Corn exports from India could hit a record 3.5 million tonnes in the 2011/12 marketing year to September, spurred by higher global prices and a bumper harvest, the India representative of a major US grains export association said on Thursday. India is Asia's second-largest grower of corn after China but it is not a significant global exporter of the grain. It mainly sells to Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, which seek small...

-The Hindustan Times   The rain gods may have brought some cheer to everyone after a scorching summer, but a sense of gloom about the Indian economy appears to be building. A study by US-based Pew Research Centre has found that while just a year ago, 51% people were satisfied with the way things were in the country (and 47% dissatisfied), today, the proportions have reversed — 59% are dissatisfied and only...