-Livemint.com In 1986, Italian journalist Carlo Petrini was outraged when McDonald’s opened its first outlet in Rome. He saw this as a threat to Italy’s culinary culture. He led a protest against the global industrialization of food, which culminated in the slow food movement. Starting in Rome, the movement is now a worldwide phenomenon. Edited excerpts from an interview at the Indigenous Terra Madre in Shillong: * What are the key achievements...

-Hindustan Times Revolution imminent… genetically modified seeds produced by MNCs cause farmer suicides. Incendiary, out-of-context sound-bites juxtaposed between heartrending visuals distort rural poverty from a complex issue that each Indian must help resolve to a simplistic, accusatory Peepli Live feature. Instead of quixotic and strident anti-growth agendas offered as panacea, a coordinated and consistent approach to poverty reduction is needed. Poverty reduction needs development. The linkage between economic growth and poverty reduction is...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: After the success with opening bank accounts and two insurance schemes, the government is lining up a major push for retirement savings under its financial inclusion programme. The finance ministry has begun talks to rope in 1.5 lakh post offices along with kirana shops and chemists to sell pension plans with an assurance of minimum returns. Sources told TOI that the department of posts, which is...

-Hindustan Times Bathinda: A month after Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal ordered the framing of a policy to compensate farm labourers for cotton crop loss due to the whitefly attack, the state government is yet to identify labourers for the purpose. The government had in October announced compensation of Rs 64 crore for labourers, mainly cotton pickers. Badal had also asked the revenue department to come out with a viable policy for...

-The Hindu Telengana: Empowered by disciplined thrift activity for close to two decades now, a group of enterprising women members of the Self Help Groups (SHGs) are charting a new course by entering male dominated domain of marketing agriculture produce directly to the processors. The effort has paid off with the farmers in at least 10 mandals of Nizamabad and Adilabad district benefiting a lot. Thanks to the encouragement by Gram Abhyudaya...