A few days back, Atul Ganatra, president of the Cotton Association of India, presented a grim scenario of the crop's prospects in the 2024-25 season that starts in October. Addressing the association's annual general meeting, Ganatra said the area under the crop could go down by at least 10 per cent in the coming season due to falling yields and realisation, leading to farmers losing interest. The fear of a decline in acreage comes against the backdrop of India's cotton production probably falling to its lowest in a decade, according to estimates.
The evolution of Bt created additional value worth Rs 40,000 crore until 2008.
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.
If a public debate ended in a near-ban on Bt brinjal, the next review could well end up the other way.
Indicating that introduction of Bt Brinjal in India could be avoided, Anand Agriculture University (AAU) vice chancellor Dr M C Varshaney on Monday said that there were other ways to increase yield and control the pests in brinjal.
After a year of decline, mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India increased 13.8 per cent, reaching $69.2 billion in the first nine months of 2024, as against $60.8 billion during the same period in 2023. Led by Indian companies and private-equity (PE) firms, 2,301 transactions were signed between January and September this year as compared to 1,855 transactions reported in the same period last year, according to the Bloomberg data.
Infosys Technologies and BT have won the National Outsourcing Association award for Innovative Outsourcing Project. The field optimisation suite (FOS) jointly developed by BT and Infosys Technologies Ltd bagged the award for the year 2007.
British Telecommunications (BT) has received both international long distance (ILD) and national long distance (NLD) licences that will enable it to offer telephony services in the country.
Farmers in India are getting obsessed with Bt cotton.
Manav Thakkar pulled off a nail-biting victory against the experienced Achanta Sharath Kamal as U Mumba TT defeated Chennai Lions 8-7 in an exciting clash of the Ultimate Table Tennis 2024.
An association of biotechnology scientists on Wednesday appealed to the Centre to approve Bt brinjal for commercial cultivation "without further delay" for the benefit of Indian farmers and consumers.
A three-member committee on Bt brinjal, appointed by the Andhra Pradesh government, has recommended not to allow commercial cultivation of Bt brinjal in the state.
Countering Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's statement on introducing Bt brinjal in the market, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said the Centre has every right to take the final decision when public safety is concerned.
Companies with any seeds of Bt brinjal, the genetically modified version of the vegetable, will have to register the details with the government, to ensure none of it is sowed or otherwise gets into the market.
Amid a raging debate over release of Bt brinjal for commercial use, Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday said genetically-tweaked variety of the vegetable was 'safe for all'.
The department of telecom has issued letters of intent to BT for national and international long distance services for offering managed services to corporate customers having sites in India.
Thanks to Bt, India's cotton fields are not suicide fields any more. The genetically modified seed has come as a godsend for farmers in several cotton-growing states with many of them reaping in rich dividends from Bt Cotton cultivation.
Our native brinjal has a medicinal value and once there is contamination, the medicinal value in the natural brinjal will automatically be lost.
Private equity (PE) players and investment bankers are divided over the timing of the BT Group's reported move to exit Tech Mahindra. BT owns about 30 per cent in TechM.
Mahyco confident of regulatory approvals, plans launch within a year.
The issue had rocked the state during the past few weeks amid news reports that a huge number of sheep, goat and cattle perished in Andhra Pradesh after eating Bt Cotton leaves.
Are post-harvest Bt Cotton fields death traps for sheep? If reports from Andhra Pradesh are any indication, Bt Cotton is set to embrace another controversy soon.
The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) is all set to file the country's firstever bio-piracy criminal case against companies involved in developing BT Brinjal by using its local variety, a top official said.
Cotton farmers in India are going to get a bountiful of hybrids to select from this year onwards.
Bacillus Thuringiensis Brinjal, popularly known as Bt brinjal, is at the centre of a major controversy in India. Bt brinjal, a genetically modified strain created by India's number one seeds company Mahyco in collaboration with American multinational Monsanto, claims to improve yields and help the agriculture sector.
The Bt brinjal issue had been firmly opposed by civil societies, NGOs and a section of scientists and health experts on the genetically modified vegetable's effects on human health and soil fertility.
South Africa bounced back to defeat India by 12 runs in the first women's T20I to secure their first win of the multi-format tour
The Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) brinjal episode will not impede the research work being carried out in the field of food and crop biotechnology in the country, a top scientist said.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday brushed off all allegations and reiterated his support for the introduction of Bt brinjal. He asserted that the introduction of the genetically modified brinjal can take place as it has been recommended by Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), a scientific body, after carrying out a series of trials and tests on its impact on nature.
Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh was on Sunday gheraoed in Hyderabad by people opposed to the introduction of Bt Brinjal in the country.The protesters from Left-affiliated farmers' outfits and Swadeshi Jagaran Manch raised slogans like 'Bt Go Back' and mobbed the minister on the dais at an event organised at the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture in Hyderabad.
Such a drastic intervention overrides existing private bilateral commercial contracts
By embargoing Bt brinjal, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh may have done a greater service to democracy than he intended, says Praful Bidwai.
BT has been associated with Tech Mahindra since the latter's inception and contributes 40 per cent to the firm's revenue but it has been looking at divesting its stake.
Although, global slowdown is the main reason behind the move, officials said the land, which was meant for the IT-BT Park, has now been allotted to other industries for expansion purposes leaving no place for the project.
Amid reports that its chairman Christopher Bland has sought Indian government's help to resolve a bandwidth-related dispute with VSNL, British Telecom said it is engaged in a mutually beneficial dialogue with VSNL.
Even as the country awaits the final word on genetically modified brinjal, seed company Monsanto is moving ahead with new products.
BT Group Plc, Britain's largest fixed-line telecom provider, said on Friday its BT retail unit would set up two call centres in India, joining a long list of firms moving to that country in a bid to cut costs.
Kharge will take care of IT & BT along with existing portfolio, while Large & Medium Industries Minister M B Patil has been given the additional charge of Infrastructure Development.
The moratorium imposed on Bt brinjal last year is likely to continue, despite the expert committee, set up by the environment ministry, favouring "limited release" of the crop.
BT group, the UK's incumbent telecom operator will acquire Mumbai-based i2i Enterprise Ltd, a company specialising in Internet protocol services to become a leading global carrier in the local market.
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