-Economic and Political Weekly Ten years on, the progressive provisions of the amended Indian Patents Act are being watered down. Ten years have passed since the Indian Patents Act, 1970 was amended in 2005 to bring the country’s laws in line with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The most important of the 2005 amendments was the introduction of product patents for 20 years, including for pharmaceutical products,...

-Livemint.com Delayed or erratic rains typically impact sowing and make farmers miss the application of agrochemicals, which the Companies dread the most Stocks of agrochemical firms have reacted uncertainly after the forecast of below-par monsoon by the India Meteorological Department. While Insecticides (India) Ltd and Dhanuka Agritech Ltd have held up well, gaining 1-4%, Rallis India and Excel Crop Care Ltd lost 2-3%. The mixed mood stems from the fact that the...

-Livemint.com The past decade has been transformative for rural India but deep-rooted vulnerabilities still remain Two years ago, the rural consumer was the delight of consumer goods Companies and financial firms as they sought to tap the growing demand in India’s countryside. After repeated spells of poor weather in the past two years, rural demand seems to have weakened sharply. Villagers appear to be trapped in a new cycle of distress, which...

-The Hindu The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill 2015 contains no provisions for consent from tribals for mining operations, but strengthens the rights of private sector mining Companies Even as countrywide protests against the land ordinance gain momentum, Adivasi communities living in mineral-rich areas are apprehensive of what awaits them as the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2015 (MMDRA) has received presidential assent and the government has drafted Rules...

-Tehelka Agrarian policies are proving to be an albatross around the neck of ordinary farmers Amon Singh Kevat, 70, a small farmer in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, spent three long days in April waiting for his harvest to be picked up from an open plot that served as a mandi (procurement centre for agricultural produce). In need of money for a marriage in the family, Kevat didn’t even go home for meals. But...