A quiet but determined battle is being fought in the courts, and outside, by US agricultural biotech giant Monsanto, its Indian affiliates and seed lobbyists to free the prices of genetically modified Bt cotton from state government control.
Venter's patent application for his synthetic cell creation has set off a frenzied debate on monopolies in genetic research.
The Valcyte case is vital as it bars incremental innovation and recognises the right of patient groups to oppose patents.
Tough intellectual property rights sought by the EU in its free trade agreement with India have set off global protests
The Lafarge mining case has highlighted the appalling weakness of the environmental clearance procedures at all levels, writes Latha Jishnu.
Not all state governments have been kind to the global seed giant Monsanto. And cotton farmers have been less than grateful for the genetically modified technology that is said to have changed their fortunes dramatically.
Brazil plans to break IP rights on American drugs, music, software and movies as retaliation for its cotton subsidies.
The biotech regulatory Bill gags dissent and takes away the power of states without providing any safeguards to farmers and consumers.
MNC-backed IP summits try to influence sitting judges on patent law enforcement issues pending in Indian courts.
Microsoft's methods of protecting copyright have been slammed by the court as abuse of its 'money power'.
Even though Nepa, composed entirely of specialists, is envisaged as a statutory body free of the control of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, critics say this will not bring about a fundamental change in the way projects are assessed and cleared.
Forests Jairam Ramesh's ambitious plan to redesign the institutions of environmental governance has come up against serious resistance from environmental experts who say the concept does not address fundamental problems.
A bloody confrontation with the Naxalites will not solve the problem of governance failure in the poorest states of the country.
Snarled in spats with established players and legal cases, the gas regulator has done little to streamline the process of expanding city gas networks.
Jadhav has a certain way with the crowds with his earthy Marathi speeches he got unprecedented crowds whenever he held public meetings as the VC and his innovative schemes at Pune University which took academia to the villages have made him a popular figure in Pune.
The national gas grid is still a mirage and all the pipelines are making a beeline for Gujarat, says Latha Jishnu.
The more pernicious of these measures is EC Regulation 1383 that allows customs officials and rights holders to interfere in the legitimate trade of generic medicines.
While celebrating our democracy and its biggest rituals we also need to think about the kind of society we are building.
Policy air bubbles and implementation snags could block plans to connect India's cities to a clean fuel grid.
The publication of IBM's claim for a system that would make offshoring of jobs more efficient could not have come at a more indelicate time, says Latha Jishnu.
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