The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
The Kerala Assembly on Thursday adopted a substantive motion proposing that the Madhav Gadgil Committee report recommending measures for conservation of the Western Ghats should be implemented only after wider consultations, and with public participation. The impractical proposals in the expert panel report should not be approved. A practical approach …
The Kerala Assembly has adopted a substantive motion voicing concern over several recommendations of the Madhav Gadgil panel on Western Ghats conservation and wants the Centre to hold wider consultations with the States concerned before implementation. The motion, approved unanimously by the House after a three-hour debate last night, wants …
An indigenous Bt cotton variety Bt Bikaneri Narma developed through a collaborative effort can no more be used for cultivation. A probe conducted by a five-member team, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor S.K. Sopory has termed the development of the strain ‘invalid’. The indigenous cotton variety was jointly developed …
ICAR “shielding errant officials” by delaying the report In a damning indictment of the way some Bt cotton varieties were developed and commercialised in the country, a committee headed by Prof. S.K. Sopory, Vice-Chancellor of JNU, found that indigenous Bikaneri Nerma (BN) Bt cotton variety was contaminated by a gene …
Meet Parliamentarians and govt, seek removal of all hindrances in path of technological advancement of farming A consortium of some farmers organisation from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have urged the government to remove all hindrances in the path of technological advancement of Indian farming and let …
19 commodities are to be covered by the new labelling rule India might not have started growing genetically modified (GM) food crops, but it does import food products that contain GM ingredients. Consumers who buy them have no way of knowing what they contain. Recently, the department of consumer affairs, …
The Indian Society for Cotton Improvement (ISCI) has recently released a comprehensive book on "Bt Cotton Questions & Answers" authored by Dr. K R Kranthi, Director of the ICAR's Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), Nagpur, India. The book has hundred questions on Bt cotton, time and again raised by …
The objection raised by NGOs and other expert panels against Bt cotton have been “speculative, confusing and without any reasonable assessment of technological strength”, Parliament was informed today. Bt cotton is the only transgenic crop approved for commercialisation in the country till date. In a written reply to the Lok …
The Principal Bench of the High Court of Karnataka (comprising Chief Justice Mr. Vikramjit Sen and Justice Mrs. B. V. Nagarathna) ordered issue of notice in the Public Interest Litigation (Writ Petition No. 41532/2012) filed by Environment Support Group, Bangalore (ESG) and listed the matter for further consideration for the …
Mining lobby behind misinformation campaign: panel member V.S. Vijayan, a member of the Madhav Gadgil Committee on the Western Ghats and former chairman of Kerala Biodiversity Board, said here on Friday that “the mining lobby and other vested interests were spreading canards about the Madhav Gadgil Committee report, which had …
It will be a blow to Indian science, it says The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that the recommendations of the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) seeking a 10-year moratorium on field trials on Genetically Modified (GM) crops will be highly detrimental and will not be in national interest. …
The government has opposed suggestions to ban open-field trials of genetically modified crops, telling the Supreme Court on Friday that any such move will be detrimental to the country’s food security and set back research in this area by 20 years. “We are not accepting this report at all. The …
With the Centre strongly favouring the genetically modified (GM) crops, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to impose an interim ban on their field trials, despite the court-appointed expert committee recommending the ban. The government pleaded that recommendation of the apex court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) for banning field trials …
Slamming the basis of recommendation for a 10-year moratorium on the field trials of GM crops, the Centre on Friday described the Technical Expert Committee’s (TEC) report as “scientifically flawed” and “arbitrary” while urging the Supreme Court to let them continue with it under strict monitoring and as per internationally …
Farmers welcome the stand of the government of India on the outright rejection of the recommendations of the technical expert committee to the Supreme Court, which suggested that a moratorium be imposed on field trials of GM crops. The SC shot down the proposal of an interim moratorium that would …
Dual-use research of concern (DURC) is the research that is intended for legitimate benefits, but also carries a risk of being misused. In this article, the work related to regulation of dual-use influenza virus research involving genetic engineering of the subtype H5N1 has been compared with the research involving regulation …
Close to 100 scientists from across the country and several farmers groups have appealed to the Supreme Court to accept in toto the interim report of the court-appointed Technical Expert Committee (TEC) in the matter of field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops. In its interim report submitted to the …
French agri-conglomerate acquires Delhi-based vegetable seeds maker for about . 140-145 crore in an all-cash deal In yet another example of the growing interest of global seeds majors towards the Indian market, the $1.9 billion French agri-conglomerate Groupe Limagrain on Wednesday acquired Delhi-based Century Seeds Private Limited, a local vegetable …
An open letter sent by nearly a hundred Indian scientists to the Supreme Court. They write in support of the report of the Supreme Court's Technical Expert Committee (TEC) calling for a 10 year moratorium on GM field trials while regulation is put in order. The scientists come from across …
Letter to the Supreme Court from Dr Sudarshan Iyengar, the Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapeeth on GM crops - Appeal to judge and order with due consideration to harmonious relationship between nature and human beings in the case of field trials of GM Crops.
