-Focusweb.org The booklet entitled Politics of Seeds: Common Resources or a Private Property dated December, 2018: * deals with the role of World Bank in the Indian seed sector; * deals with Transformation of seeds from farm-saved traditional seed to monopolized GM seeds; * deals with IPRs and Patents on Seeds, and the threat under FTAs/ RCEP; * deals with major Seed Legislations in India; and * presents the alternative in the form of seed conservation...
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India's Cow Crisis Part 4: The stigma of Mewat -Jitendra
-Down to Earth How this backward district in Haryana has borne the brunt of stringent cow-related laws “How do you fit a veterinary doctor, fodder and a water tank inside a pickup van?” asks Nooruddin, sitting at a tea shop. The 50-year-old former goat keeper now marks buffaloes with colour at the animal market in Firozpur Jhirka for Rs 200, twice a week. Supplementary earnings working at a butcher shop take his...
More »After 10% quota, Govt plans basic income for poor, aid for farmers -Amitav Ranjan
-The Indian Express The 2017 Economic Survey had flagged the UBI scheme as “a conceptually appealing idea” and a possible alternative to social welfare programmes targeted at reducing poverty. With its Legislation on a 10 per cent quota for the general category poor in jobs and education getting parliamentary backing in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led government is now exploring the possibility of providing direct benefit transfers...
More »A renewed attack on privacy: on Aadhaar Bill -Suhrith Parthasarathy
-The Hindu The Aadhaar Bill, allowing private bodies to use Aadhaar as a means to authenticate identity, poses huge dangers On Friday, the Lok Sabha, without any attendant discussion, passed the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018. On any reasonable reading it ought to be plainly apparent that the Bill flagrantly flouts both the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s judgment which gave the Aadhaar programme a conditional imprimatur. It is...
More »An outstanding alternative to farm loan waiver -Suman Layak
-The Economic Times The world is no stranger to farm debt crises like the one India is seeing today. Back in the 1980s, the Canadian parliament enacted a law to stop foreclosures on farm debt, after prices collapsed and interest rates jumped to as high as 24%. The law was in force for a dozen-odd years. It identified insolvent farmers, facilitated agreements between the borrowers and lenders, and helped some farmers move...
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