-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: The US food and beverages giant PepsiCo has sued three farmers in Gujarat complaining that they have been illegally growing and selling a variety of potato exclusively registered by the company. PepsiCo claimed it has sole rights to grow them to manufacture chips of its brand - Lay's. Looking at the company's registration of the potato variety in country's Plant Variety Registry, the commercial court here last...

-The Hindu It is shocking that a democratic government is seeking to strengthen the colonial-era Indian Forest Act The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was a remarkable piece of expropriation in the name of conservation. The British government carried out one of the largest land expropriations in history, where the rights to occupy and use forests were transferred from communities with customary and historical property rights to the colonial Central government. The act...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Three summers ago, a water train dispatched by the Centre had chugged into Uttar Pradesh' Bundelkhand region, attempting to provide succour to the parched area. The train had pulled in empty, drawn water from a local reservoir and triggered a massive political row between the Centre and the state government, as a result. This year, the weatherman's predictions for Bundelkhand are bleak as usual, not ruling...

-PTI India must focus on growth of labour-intensive sectors to create decent jobs for the masses as well as give “serious thought” to privatising the public sector banks (PSBs), eminent economist Arvind Panagariya has said, emphasising that the reform process must be completed in the coming five years. Panagariya, who had served as the first Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog from January 2015 to August 2017, was responding to a question...

-The Indian Express Rural crisis needs nuanced interventions, not tall promises in party manifestos Farmers were sold a dream in 2014 that everything was going to change. But now they have compelling reasons to feel they were deceived. Party manifestos indicate what the politicians want us to believe. After elections, winners get either selective amnesia (Rs 15 lakh in each bank account), re-interpret promises (MSP at C2+50 per cent), continue to...