-The Telegraph Nagpur: Maharashtra's BJP-led government has put on hold confined field trials for genetically modified (GM) crops "until all doubts are cleared", following "objections from reputed members of society" including RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch. No time bar has been specified for the restrictions, which come days before the onset of the monsoon and the start of the sowing season. The state agriculture department wrote to private and public sector Companies on...

-The Business Standard Industry cheers, unions label the move veiled entry of a 'hire & fire' regime The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre has proposed to give industries some flexibility in hiring contract workers for project-based jobs or short-term assignments, a move cheered by industry but slammed by trade unions as an entry of 'hire and fire' through the back door. The proposal, originally mooted by the previous NDA government...

-CivilSocietyOnline.com Dehradun: Maletha village in Tehri Garhwal is very angry. Men, women and children sit on the road in dharna, demanding that a stone crushing company grandly called Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram be evicted from their village. The villagers’ problems began in February 2014 when two stone crushers arrived in Maletha with their machines. Their operations created an ear-splitting noise and belched clouds of dust that settled on crops and orchards. In August, another...

-Business Standard Encourages states on short-duration and less of rain-dependent crops, pushes seed availability in case of re-sowing as IMD predicts deficit in rainfall this year Mumbai/ Hyderabad: With the forecast of monsoon rain revised downward, the Union ministry of agriculture has directed states to be ready with contingency plans. Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan said rainfall would be only 88 per cent of the long-term average from the 93 per cent expected...

-The Times of India A bunch of concerned doctors and members of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have written a letter demanding an explanation from the IMA for its decision to 'validate' Kent water purifiers. The slew of advertisements released by Kent, in which it has prominently claimed that its products were 'validated', 'approved' or 'accepted' by IMA has led to a slug fest, especially in the online world, between groups...