SEZ have been hurt by the global downturn and contraction in demand for domestic goods and services The commerce ministry has proposed measures to make it eASIer for developers to exit special economic zones (SEZs) that have been struggling with a contraction in global demand for goods produced at the tax-free enclaves. Specific provisions for the denotification of SEZs have been been put up for public comments till Thursday, after which they...

A new study has shown that a compound extracted from licorice root, commonly used in candies, can help fight rare, but deadly infections. Eat candies to ward off rare, but deadly infections. A team of scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch and Shriners Hospitals for Children have revealed that a compound called glycyrrhizin might be an effective tool in battling life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections resulting from severe burns. The...

Of Indian households’ total annual income, 0.22 per cent is spent on buying newspapers — that is, if total national household annual income was Rs 100, 22 paise would be set ASIde for newspapers. Paying off bank loans (expenditure under equated monthly instalments) takes up 1.4 per cent of total household annual income. The share of health expenditure is 1.5 per cent, and that of education expenditure, 3.21 per cent....

In 2010, subject to government approvals, Indian farmers will seed their fields with transgenic brinjals—brinjals with a genetic variant that, courtesy Monsanty-Mahyco Ltd and a clutch of agricultural universities, protect them from insects. But 14 years ago, Polumetla Ananda Kumar successfully planted the first Indian transgenic brinjals in a field in west Delhi. Then he promptly burnt the entire crop to the ground. Kumar, head of the National Plant Biotechnology Centre at...

Sri Lankan journalists suffered worst by all standards Tendency to sell news space for trivia grew in India A dozen journalists were killed in South ASIa — most of them in conflict situations — during the year which also saw the media come under strain due to “over-commercialisation, monopolisation and excessive political clout.” Taking stock of the circumstances under which the media functioned this year, the South ASIa Media Monitor for 2009...