-The Hindustan Times Several important councils and committees formed and headed by Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh have either not met even once or only rarely, according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply procured by HT from the Prime Minister's office (PMO). Important committees on nutrition, skill development, climate change, and micro, small, medium enterprises (MSME) - all under the PM's stewardship - haven't met for years, says the RTI query. Interestingly,...

-The Hindu Business Line One sector in which the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) can claim some success during its 10 years in power is agriculture. Between 2003-04 and 2013-14, India's foodgrain output rose from 213.19 million tonnes (mt) to 263.20 mt. Production of pulses and oilseeds has also gone up from under 15 and 25 mt to nearly 20 and 33 mt respectively, after registering near stagnation in the previous decade....

-The New Indian Express Bangalore: Agricultural technologies can help increase global crop yields by as much as 67 per cent and cut food prices by in half by 2050, according to a new book, ‘Food Security in a World of Natural Resource Scarcity: The Role of Agricultural Technologies.' The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, has released this book recently. The book cites an increased demand for food due to population and...

-The Hindu TISS chief seeks parity in trade tariff KASARAGOD (Kerala): With neo-liberal economic values holding increasing sway in contemporary society, India should strive to ensure a level playing field among nations to safeguard interest of small-time business groups and farmers in the country, Director of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) S. Parasuraman has said. "If you are talking about level playing field for all nations, after having become part of the...

-The Hindu Chennai: With U.S Trade Representative Michael Froman set to announce a trade enforcement action tied to India, the highly influential U.S Chamber of Commerce has lashed out at India's recent pattern of pharma patent denials, pointing out that the country's actions "are not about access to medicine." In the case of Swiss drug-maker Novartis, whose cancer drug's patent protections were dismissed by the Supreme Court, the chamber has argued that...