As Madhya Pradesh begins to harvest a bumper wheat crop, the state is finding that measures put in place to ensure that the powerful do not game the system are having the unintended effect of keeping out the most marginalised. In anticipation of a bumper harvest, the MP government announced a Rs 100 bonus that it would pay wheat farmers above the central government-fixed Minimum Support Price of Rs 1,120. "It...

In an effort to encourage individuals to help feed tens of thousands of hungry children across the world, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has created a social media platform through which people can share their favourite meals by making donations to the agency. The Internet portal, WeFeedback, engages supporters through an online “Feedback Calculator” that helps them to work out how many children they could feed if they donated...

The political class may be evil and corrupt but that’s whom Shanti Bhushan and his son Jayant Bhushan Turn to when they want a farmhouse each — for a song. In his declaration of assets last week, Shanti Bhushan, also co-chairman of the drafting committee of the Lokpal Bill, mentioned a 10,000 sq m farmland plot in Noida. What he did not mention was the discretionary manner in which the Mayawati government,...

One person was killed in police firing and several were injured as the protest against the nuclear power plant in Jaitapur Turned violent on Monday. Thirty protesters including Shiv Sena MLA Rajan Salvi were arrested, Ratnagiri Collector Madhukar Gaikwad told The Hindu. A protester was killed in the firing and a policeman was grievously injured in stone-throwing, he said.  “Two separate incidents happened during the day,” Mr. Gaikwad said. “In the morning,...

Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil said on Monday that the situation was tense in Jaitapur after Minister of State for Environment Jairam Ramesh's statement that there was no going back on the proposed nuclear project. One person was killed in police firing and several were injured as the protest against the nuclear power plant Turned violent. Subhash Desai of the Shiv Sena told the Maharashtra Assembly that the incident was shocking and...