-The Hindu While Monsanto and Indian seed companies spar, more worrying is the confused lawmaking underpinning regulation of patents Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Breed controversy like no other. Little wonder then that Monsanto’s much-maligned Bt cotton has spawned the mother of all intellectual property (IP) disputes in India, involving at least 15 different proceedings in various courts, government agencies and tribunals at last count. Most proceedings appear to have come at the behest...

-The Hindu Conservationists blame increased human activity along habitat. Kolkata: Scientists and wildlife conservationists are seeing red over the threat posed to Gangetic river dolphins by the National Waterways project. The animal is protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and is a declared endangered species. The development of the Ganga for shipping is seen by wildlife conservationists as the single-largest threat to the survival of the species, whose...

-Livemint.com Small farmers reaped a bumper crop defying a drought and despite price shocks and pest-related risks New Delhi: Small farmers across India reaped a bumper crop of fruits and vegetables in 2015-16 defying a widespread drought. India’s horticulture output crossed a record 283 million tonnes, shows the third advance estimate released by the agriculture ministry on Monday. However, the story is not just about a record harvest during a drought year—primarily due...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: "We cannot tolerate this year after year." This was the sharp reaction of the Delhi High Court on Wednesday on the waterlogging on major roads and crippling of traffic movement in large parts of the national capital. "There is no justification for clogged drains. We cannot tolerate this year after year," the court said when it took up a matter relating to water logging of South Extension...

-The Telegraph Cuttack: The threat of extinction looms large over the state's natural fish stocks in rivers and lakes because of unregulated inland fishing during the Breeding season. The impact of unrestricted fishing is already being felt in the state's rivers, especially in the Mahanadi. There has reportedly been a drastic downslide in fish catch. The annual freshwater fish production in the state is around three lakh tonnes. While 87 per cent fishes...