-The Hindu ‘Agriculture sector is facing a lot of challenges due to recurrent droughts and floods’ The Centre is contemplating bringing in a viable insurance scheme for farmers given that the agriculture sector is facing a lot of challenges due to recurrent droughts, floods and other weather-related changes, Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Thursday. Speaking at a national dialogue on ‘Innovative Extension System for Farmers Empowerment and...

-The Financial Express The perennial gap between allocation of grain meant for the public distribution system by the Food Corporation of India, the principal procurement agency, and the lifting of such grains The perennial gap between allocation of grain meant for the public distribution system by the Food Corporation of India, the principal procurement agency, and the lifting of such grains by the states has narrowed considerably in recent months, reports Sandip...

-TheWire.in In a case that will once again prove that India is not out to arbitrarily purge all pharmaceutical patents, the Delhi high court has ruled in favour of Roche, a Swiss multinational. Many years ago, Roche dragged Cipla to court arguing that Cipla’s product infringed its patented anticancer drug, Erlotinib (brand name ‘Tarceva’). After a protracted legal battle fought over seven hard years, Roche finally won. But so did Cipla. Indeed,...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: In an effort to raise agriculture productivity and raise farm prices, government's premier think tank NITI Aayog is considering a series of big ticket agriculture reforms that include changes in the fertiliser policy to allow free import of urea, explore transgenic crops in pulses and oilseeds and make land laws transparent. A paper emerging from the work of Aayog's task force on agriculture development, has moving fertiliser...

-The Indian Express   The odd-even car proposal is being enforced in Delhi without any evidence or cost-benefit analysis    Mahatma Gandhi had said, “Action in the absence of knowledge can be dangerous and worse than no action at all”. This sage advice is ignored by most Indians. In the face of a serious pollution problem prevalent in most Indian cities, especially the smaller towns, we pretend that it is only the people...