Feature Article

The World Intellectual Property Organization has announced clearly that it intends to play a role—and considering the clout WIPO enjoys it implies a significant part—in promoting intellectual property (IP) in agriculture to enhance productivity. The UN body stepped into this touchy arena with a seminar at its Geneva headquarters that has gone almost unnoticed. The June 14 seminar had just a handful of participants—India was one of them—for the day-long deliberations on ‘How the Private and the Public Sectors Use IP to Enhance Agricultural Productivity’ but its rationale for pushing IP is fraught with problems.

The Morse committee has asked the World Bank to step back from the Sardar Sarovar project. Whether the bank complies or not, the committee has undoubtedly delivered a resounding indictment of all those involved in the project—from the governments of Gujarat and India to the mighty World Bank. There is no doubt that the Gujarat government has failed to inspire confidence in its ability or efforts to provide a fair deal to those likely to suffer because of the project.

In most Afghan households, winter is heralded by the strong aroma of fried mint leaves that lingers till late in the night. The smell is a sure give away of what a family has had for dinner—Aashak, a speciality dish of Kabul comprising dumplings and noodles.

IN 1860, Charles Darwin encouraged cattle owners to maintain data on a special breed of cows living in Northumberland county, northern England. Little did he know that 151 years later these records, which included births and deaths, would provide evidence of how climate change is affecting breeding patterns in Chillingham wild cattle.

AFFORESTATION, a key climate change reduction strategy recommended by the United Nations, will not have much effect on global temperatures. Instead, if carried out in high altitudes, it may lead to climate warming, according to a study carried out by scientists in Canada.

MONITORING air pollution just got simpler. A handy and low-cost instrument has been developed for researchers to measure and analyse soot level in the air.

COCONUT trees are found across the world and it is said that they played a fundamental role in human migrations and the development of civilisations. So far, nobody has studied the genetic variability in the tree. Now a study of the DNA shows that coconuts have two well-defined and differentiated populations representing two separate locations of cultivation—the Pacific basin and the Indo-Atlantic Ocean basin.