-The Business Standard   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can be assertive when he chooses to. He has certainly imposed his will on the government to push the case for the controversial genetically-modified (GM) food crops. Documents reviewed by Business Standard show, for almost two years, Singh and his office have been the moving force behind the decision to go ahead with field trials of GM crops, including food crops, without awaiting regulatory reforms...

-Outlook Shimla: National Agriculture Bank And Rural Development has launched a Warehousing Scheme (NWS) to advance loans to Public and Private sector for creation of storage infrastructure with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore during 2013-14. "A dedicated scheme for providing assistance for creation of storage infrastructure with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore has been introduced, pursuant to announcement made by Union Finance minister in current year's budget and the scheme...

-The Hindu A NABARD survey says middlemen funded by banks have kept growers captive to high-interest loans Jammu: Kashmir's acres of undulating apple orchards may soon be waste lands, a survey by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) accessed by The Hindu shows. The Rs. 4,000-crore industry has been brought to its knees by a network of middle-order market functionaries comprising pre-harvest contractors (PHCs), commission agents (CAs) and wholesalers...

-The Financial Express A patent law that is transparent, based on principles of good science & encourages innovation is in India's interest In 500 BC, in the Greek city of Sybaris, it was proclaimed that "encouragement was held out to all who should discover any new refinement in luxury, the profits arising from which were secured to the inventor by patent for the space of a year." England followed with the Statute...

-DNA You may be cursing when you pay a high price for Kashmiri apples, wondering what share of the moneyorchard owners would receive. But in reality, the apple growers wouldn't be even knowing the price at which the fruit is sold in the mainland, leave alone reaping profits. Then, where does the money go? Into the pockets of commission agents, who, sitting in Delhi or any of the major cities, exploit and...