-The Hindu Business Line The National Seed Association of India (NSAI), which represents top seed companies in the country, on Wednesday suggested some changes in the proposed Seed Bill 2019, INCluding a more scientific definition of transgenic variety, enhanced farmer rights on seeds and enlisting the services of private firms for evaluating new varieties before seed registration. In letters written to Indian Council of Agricultural Research - Director General (ICAR) Trilochan Mahapatra...

-The Indian Express The ongoing price recovery in major crops is in danger of being stymied by knee-jerk government response. A lot of analyst commentary on the latest quarterly GDP numbers for India has focused on the low growth in “nominal” terms: Gross value added (GVA) at current prices grew by just 6.3% year-on-year in July-September and 7.1% for April-September. If this first-half trend holds for the rest of 2019-20, it would...

-The Hindu The UNESCO report was published by Institute for Lifelong Learning, based on data submitted by 159 countries, INCluding India. Investments in adult learning and education (ALE) have steadily decreased in the last decade. Nearly a fifth of the UNESCO member countries reported spending less than 5% of education budget on ALE and a further 14% reported spending less than 1%, says a UNESCO report published by Institute for Lifelong Learning,...

-The Hindu Letter to States flags falling collections The Centre has written to all the States voicing concern that due to the lower Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, the compensation cess might not be enough to pay for losses arising out of the tax system. The communication comes at a time when several States, INCluding Rajasthan, Kerala, Delhi, Punjab and West Bengal, have publicly urged the Centre to transfer pending compensation payments...

-The Hindu The slowdown is an outcome of supply-side constraints, says the economist The official GDP growth estimate for the July-September quarter, at 4.5%, is the lowest in 26 quarters. Rathin Roy, Director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, and former member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, discusses the causes of the economy’s troubles and suggests possible remedies. Edited excerpts: * The Finance Minister says the economy is...