-The Guardian Don't believe the hype: GM is in the grip of a few firms that profit from selling the chemicals they engineer their seeds to resist Thirty years ago, genetic engineers hoped new technology would revolutionise world farming and reduce or even eliminate the need for fertilisers and pesticides. It was a noble idea that deserved success. But only promises came. In the 1990s the public was told genetic modification would...

-CNN-IBN While the Cabinet has approved a new law after examining Justice Verma Committee recommendations on punishing sex offenders, women groups have called the ordinance a dilution of the Verma panel recommendations. This came as the ordinance passed by the Cabinet remained silent on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Reports say that women groups will protest against the ordinance in the capital. Meanwhile, former IPS officer and activist Kiran Bedi welcomed...

-The Hindu By opting for a U.S.-style medical care model, India is endangering its universal health coverage goal, and paving the way for a corporatised, for-profit system As India continues to debate how best to implement universal health coverage, two recent and seemingly unrelated news items need to be analysed carefully. The first one pertains to a report released earlier this year by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine in...

-The Indian Express It is very difficult to try and be a rational voice in the cacophony of cries for revenge and retribution on the alleged perpetrators of the ghastly crime that was committed on the night of December 16. I am equally ashamed, outraged and shocked that an incident like this could take place in the heart of India, which gave birth to a Mahatma Gandhi, a Gautam Buddha, a...

-The Hindu Complaints by Pakistan of executions, beheadings in secret cross-border raids by Indian forces In classified protests to a United Nations watchdog that have never been disclosed till now, Pakistan has accused Indian soldiers of involvement in the torture and decapitation of at least 12 Pakistani soldiers in cross-Line of Control raids since 1998, as well as the massacre of 29 civilians. The allegations, laid out in confidential Pakistani complaints to the...