-The New Indian Express Something remarkable happened when the farmers came marching to Mumbai recently. Instead of greeting them with hostility, Mumbaikars welcomed them with affection, food and water. This change in attitude was triggered by the farmers’ extraordinary discipline and their efforts to ensure minimal disruption to the Mumbaikars’ routines. Even hard-boiled journalists acknowledged, for a brief moment, urbanites had realised  our farmers and adivasis were indeed facing difficult times. The...

-The Times of India NAGPUR: Reviving the debate once again over local indigenous variety versus the ones promoted by agriculture universities, an NGO Gramin Yuva Pragatik Mandal (GYPM) took up the challenge to prove that local indigenous seeds were more effective and scripted a success story. In the process, the NGO not just proved its claim right but also produced 19 traditional varieties of rice on a 10-acre plot within a...

-The Times of India PUNE: Navabai Ansari, a maid from Mangalwar Peth, is a harassed woman. It has been over two months now, but the fair price shopowner in her area won’t give her food grains as her husband’s Aadhaar and the ration card are not linked. Nirmala Rajput, a daily wager, from Guruwar Peth has also been denied her mandatory ration by a fair price shopowner in her area for over...

-The Hindu Business Line Ahmedabad: Ahead of the kharif sowing season, Gujarat is facing a cash shortage as banks have started receiving lesser cash than required from the RBI. This has resulted in the rationing of cash disbursements at several banks in parts of Gujarat, mainly in the north. Banking sources confirmed experiencing cash shortage at the currency chest level from where the disbursement of cash takes place to the bank branches. There...

-Livemint.com Plant varieties and seeds cannot be patented under Indian law by companies like Monsanto, and any royalties on GM crops will be decided by the agriculture ministry, says Delhi high court New Delhi: Plant varieties and seeds cannot be patented under Indian law by companies like Monsanto Inc., and any royalties on genetically modified (GM) technology will be decided by a specialized agency of the agriculture ministry, the Delhi high court...