-The Hindu PepsiCo cited the FAQ section to justify cases filed by it. A document which food and beverages giant PepsiCo India cited to support its charges against Gujarat potato farmers earlier this year is being revised by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority (PPV&FRA), following complaints from major farmers groups. The Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ document had claimed that “only small and marginal farmers involved in subsistence farming”...
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A potential seedbed for private profits -R Ramakumar
-The Hindu The new Seeds Bill is tilted against farmers’ interests and loaded in favour of seed companies. After passing through at least two versions, Seeds Bill 2019 is now under Parliament’s consideration. The earlier versions of the Bill, in 2004 and 2010, had generated heated debates. The present version promises to be no different. In 1994, India signed the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). In 2002, India also...
More »Gujarat farmers sow potato seeds registered by PepsiCo, in symbolic protest -Jitendra
-Down to Earth The multinational had sued four farmers in April, triggering a controversy that has now been reignited Farmers in Gujarat have sowed a variety of potato seeds registered by multinational PepsiCo, in a symbolic protest against the food and beverage corporation, a farmer leader told Down To Earth (DTE). “In the last four days, more than 500 farmers have come forward to sow the FC-5 variety of seeds which our organisation...
More »Smarter than Aadhaar -Reetika Khera
-The Indian Express Viable solutions to PDS portability are being ignored in the push for Aadhaar. Migrants’ woes are often invoked in making a case for portability of benefits in the public distribution system (PDS). Most recently, an article (‘A hundred small steps’, IE, September 26) did just that. However, in many cases of short-term seasonal migration (a dominant form in India), only one or two of the household members migrate,...
More »Right to Food: The politics of vegetarianism in India -Abhirup Dam
-The Telegraph With malnutrition levels as bad as sub-Saharan African countries, a vegetarian diet is just an imposition for Indians Indian cuisine is not a homogenous entity, and food habits differ along regional, religious, caste, and class lines. Yet there is an assumption in dominant discourses that India is a vegetarian nation. According to Dr Veena Shatrugna, former Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderbad, contrary to any such assumption, about 80 per...
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