-Deccan Chronicle THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Don't worry if the fruits and vegetables you buy from the markets are contaminated with pesticides. Here is a solution Veggie Wash which will decontaminate them. The product developed by the pesticide residue lab of Kerala Agriculture University will hit the market this month. Around 10 companies have bought the formulation and another 10 are in the queue. Veggie Wash solution was standardised by M.Sc students...

-The Telegraph Calcutta: Private companies will be able to buy farm produce directly from farmers in Bengal. But the widely-anticipated whoop of exultation from Indian industry over the amendment in the state's agri-marketing act was somewhat muted because of the lack of clarity on the issue of contract farming and the absence of clear guidelines on whether the state government would provide incentives and help in the acquisition of land for private...

-The Hindu Are differences within the middle class, in income, education, and cultural and social capital, so wide as to render moot any ideological or behavioural coherence to this group? The rapid growth of the Indian economy over the past three decades has led to a substantial expansion of India's "middle class". This has triggered a robust debate over who in India actually belongs to the "middle class," its size, composition, and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The drug price regulator has mandated companies to seek its approval for every new medicine, including combinations of existing ones, to ensure that consumers are not overcharged. According to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) all innovative launches like new combinations of price-controlled medicines as well as those with changed strengths and dosages will be treated as 'new medicines'. The move is aimed at spanning the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today issued a notice to the Union government to enforce improved emissions standards for vehicles across India after a non-government organisation carried an air pollution monitoring instrument inside the courtroom and found pollution levels exceeding safe limits. During the hearing of an ongoing PIL on air pollution this afternoon, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) showed that the level of particulate matter (PM) smaller...