The draft Food Security Bill, which has returned to the negotiating table of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) after a gap, is, among other things, expected to witness discussions on the number of people to be covered by the scheme across the country, whether the other vulnerable sections of the society are to brought within its ambit, whether it should be confined to the distribution of either rice or...

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has thrown a spanner in the works of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which planned to put up huge hoardings of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s photographs along all national highways. Going a step further, it directed all Central ministries and departments not use the Prime Minister’s photographs without prior approval. “Photograph of the Prime Minister cannot be used by any Ministry /Department without...

A recent survey carried out by the TNUEF brings to light details of the discrimination Dalits in Madurai have faced for generations. OVER seven decades have rolled by since the freedom fighter A. Vaidhyanatha Iyer successfully led Dalits into the Meenakshi temple in Madurai, overcoming all the impediments posed by the casteist forces that were hell-bent on thwarting the historic event. But the stark reality is that “hidden apartheid” against...

Facing intense opposition from within and outside, the government refused to give a go-ahead to commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal, a genetically-modified version of the vegetable that is said to be more resistant to pests. Announcing a cautious approach of the government, Environment and Forests minister Jairam Ramesh said there was "no clear consensus" among the scientists and stake-holders on giving permission to Bt Brinjal and more studies needed to...

The special meeting of Chief Ministers convened by the Centre indicates that food price inflation remains worrisome. But at the meet the problem was underplayed and little of substance emerged.  With food price inflation still running at close to 18 per cent, the UPA government at the Centre has been forced to recognise that it constitutes a problem that deserves as much or more attention than the objective of achieving...