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The upcoming WHO centre at Jamnagar, Gujarat, is tasked with scientifically validating the efficacy of ancient therapies.

Why do these centuries-old therapies such as Chinese Tui Na, Japanese Kampo, African herbal medicines or Indian Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani or homeopathy need validation?

What is one to expect from WHO for sustenance of traditional medicines, that is the first port of call for a majority of the population around the world.

Rutam Vora explains.

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India is having problems with its wheat crop -- a recent report in this newspaper stated that the production could be 10-20 million tonnes below this year’s estimate of 111 million tonnes due to the early onset of summer. The Centre also admitted that its procurement target will not be met this year. Why is this happening?

TR Vivek speaks to Prasanna Rao, co-founder and CEO at Arya.ag about the issue in this podcast.

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Batteries have been used in all vehicles all the time and we don’t have to be scared of them. Only, there is a need to ensure that the manufacturers are more safety-conscious and don’t try to cut corners by cutting costs.

M Ramesh explains.

With government officials at the Centre saying wheat production this year could be 8-10 million tonnes lower than initial estimates, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other State agencies may find it tough to even procure 20 million tonnes (mt) of the grain during the current rabi marketing season.

Subramani Ra Mancombu explains!

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is set to become the largest listed insurance company in India and fifth largest listed insurance player globally. Kumar Shankar Roy and Hamsini Karthik discuss the much-awaited IPO's valuation, business nitty-gritties, rewards, and risks.

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Temperatures are forecast to rise to 50°C in Jacobabad, Pakistan, approaching the temperature record for the city, which is one of the hottest places on the planet. New Delhi could touch 44-45°C, approaching its record April temperature, while some parts of North India could touch 46°C.

Why is it so?

Vinson Kurian explains...

Among the many problems in Indian agriculture is the absence of quality standards in the farm-to-fork food chain.

The lack of standards means farmers have no incentive to innovative and produce qualitatively better food. It also takes away from the consumer the option of buying better.

Even globally, determining the quality of farm produce is a largely subjective exercise, often involving conjecture. Usually, farm commodities are put though physical parameter tests using touch-and-feel, visual appeal, smell and taste. As a result, the ability of farmers who grow higher quality, or pesticide and chemical-free produce, to command a premium is rather limited.

AgNext, a Chandigarh-based agritech start-up, could well be among the first in the world to crack this conundrum in a manner that is scalable even in a vast and diverse agri commodities market such as India. Using computer vision (a field of engineering that deals with computers analysing information using digital images and videos), spectral analytics, internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence, AgNext’s devices and technology platform can analyse produce quality from milk to grains to tea in about 30 seconds. It is like an MRI scanner for food.

TR Vivek speaks to Taranjeet Singh Bhamra, the 42-year old founder of Agnext. Taranjeet is an IIM Calcutta and IIT-Kharagpur alum who chucked up a career in consulting and investment banking in 2015 to pursue his ambition of starting a business that could help Indian farmers.

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Over the last five years, the Indian government has been focusing on increasing the number of patents that are being filed in the country. And now, we can see the results -- the Economic Survey 2021-22 showed that the filing of intellectual property patents in India has increased 30 per cent in the last five years and the number of patents granted in the period almost tripled.This increase in patent filing has helped India’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index -- it has risen from 81 in 2015-16 to 46 in 2021.

But, given the large population and the sheer size of our country, are we living up to our potential? What are some of the areas we need to work upon?

On the occasion of World IP Day, we speak to Patrick Kilbride of the US Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Centre and Swetha Singh, CEO, EnnobleIP and patent law expert. Listen in to our conversation.

This conversation you’re about to listen to is a part of BusinessLine’s Table Talk series, conversations with leaders on their life and times and businesses. In this episode, BuisnessLine’s Richa Mishra and Vinay Kamath speak to Brahmani Nara, executive director of the dairy major, Heritage Foods. 

For the uninitiated, Heritage Foods was started by Andhra Pradesh’s former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in 1992. But the business was managed by his wife, Bhuvaneswari Nara. Brahmani, married to their son Lokesh Nara, joined Heritage in 2011 as a vice-president and was later elevated to executive director.  

In this episode, Brahmani speaks about why she didn’t get into the celluloid biz like other star kids, given her heritage as the granddaughter of Telugu movies' super star NT Rama Rao and daughter of actor Balakrishna.

She also talks about how she joined Heritage after a long stint studying abroad, her plans for the company’s next phase of growth, and her interests beyond corporate life. 

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was on a two-day visit to India, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed many important issues including the proposed India-UK FTA, climate change and the promotion of start-ups. The two leaders spoke about increasing defence cooperation by investing more in manufacturing and procurement. Amiti Sen reports. Listen in.