-The Hindu The growth-at-all-cost mantra has left a vast majority of people impoverished. If the first year of the BJP government is any indication, its five-year stint may turn out to be the worst period for India’s environment and ecosystem-dependent people since the 1980s. This is saying a lot, given that none of the previous governments has been particularly sensitive to issues of fresh air and water, productive soil, healthy forests and grasslands....

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: India is set to have a stronger consumer protection law with its own version of class action suits. As the term is usually defined, a class action suit is one in which one or several persons sue on behalf of a larger group of persons, referred to as "the class". However, the Indian version will not allow individuals to sue on behalf of a larger...

-Down to Earth Industry members say government Food safety body ignoring ground reality The Food safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has given food operators who have been pointing fingers at the Food safety body to pay more attention to their mandate—Food safety. In an open letter addressed to all stakeholders, FSSAI has highlighted the importance of self regulation and the role of industry. It also points to how industry believes...

-Hindustan Times London: With the global population expected to touch 9 billion by 2050, food from forests in India and elsewhere have potential to address needs of nutrition and food security at a time when the limits of boosting agricultural production are becoming increasingly clear. A new report produced by an international panel led by Bhaskar Vira, an expert based at the University of Cambridge, says that  despite impressive productivity increases, there...

-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...