The new trade order ordained by GATT affects India's entire economy. Some consider it a new form of colonialism, but others see it as a bountiful opportunity.

A POTENTIAL threat to barley and other crops is the proposal that countries pay royalties for plant genetic materials used to create commercial varieties. Even as debate continues on the issue,

* PATENT wars are heating up. British drug manufacturer Glaxo has won one patents case against a Canadian manufacturer, but faces a second against another. Both claim Glaxo's products -- stable and

Indian industrialists and scientists want the country"s property rights to be "strengthened", but the powerful drugs industry wants to maintain the status quo

THE BRITISH Technology Group (BTG) recently licensed Penn Pharmaceuticals to manufacture a "safer paracetamol," according to a report in New Scientist (Vol 135 No 1836). Paracetamol was considered a

Environment ministry guidelines state that many of the adverse impacts of thermal plants can be foreseen and minimised through judicious siting, preventive and control

Patents are monopoly rights granted to the inventors to protect their economic interests. But this becomes complicated when the patent is applied to life forms on a global scale.