-Economic and Political Weekly While the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 is a progressive piece of legislation that recognises farmers' rights to seed, it demands payment of an annual maintenance fee by the farmers to protect the varieties which they have been cultivating and conserving for years, only because these varieties have been brought under legal protection through national legislation. Parameswaran Prajeesh (prajeesh@mssrf.res.in) is a researcher with the...

-The Hindu As power lines and roads slice up forest cover, it becomes clear that a knowledge economy must tackle development with a wider perspective than that of mere short-term gains In just two meetings in August 2014 and January 2015, the National Board for Wildlife considered projects involving over 2,300 hectares of land in and around wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. In four meetings between September and December 2014, the Forest...

-The Hindu The Parisara Mitra award-winning Keddalike school is self-sufficient MANGALURU: This school in Bantwal taluk does not have to buy vegetables and coconut to prepare the midday meal that is served to its students. The food is made from fresh and organically grown vegetables that come from a sprawling vegetable garden, cared for by students and teachers in the school's backyard. Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School, Keddalike, in Kavalamudur village, has rightly bagged...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Under watch across the world over the alarming quality of air in its national capital, are Indian authorities trying to shoot the messenger? The Delhi Pollution Control Committee, which runs a real-time air pollution monitoring system, has been rapped for releasing "raw" or "unedited" air quality data on its website. In a meeting last week, the Union environment ministry has decided that DPCC's data will be...

-Frontline Kerala is facing a situation where health care costs are leading more and more people, not just low-income families, to financial distress. KERALA is once again drawing attention to itself, this time for a persistent trend of a large number of households being pushed into financial ruin because of the expenses incurred for medical care. Several studies have now found evidence for the many facets of this worrying development in a...