The colossal hubris, ignorance and smugness of India’s nuclear czars take one’s breath away. The day Japan’s crisis took a decisive turn for the worse, with an explosion in a third Fukushima reactor and fresh radiation leaks, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) secretary Sreekumar Banerjee declared that the nuclear crisis “was purely a chemical reaction and not a nuclear emergency as described by some section(s) of media”. Nuclear Power Corporation...

The World Bank and the United Nations have haiLED it as one of the best health insurance schemes around the globe. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget calLED this UPA flagship, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), an 'effective instrument' for providing basic health cover to the poor. Yet, UPA-ruLED states have virtually disowned the scheme - just 11% of the scheme's Rs 2.31 crore active beneficiaries are in UPA-run territories, an...

The Hindu report creates a storm; Opposition wants Manmohan to deny the charge or quit Government survives “on the strength of a political sin” Yechury: gross moral de-generation and crass political opportunism Proceedings in both Houses of Parliament were marred on Thursday by repeated adjournments and uproar as a united Opposition demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh following fresh disclosures alleging bribing of MPs during the July 2008 confidence vote, which...

Food inflation, hovering in the double digits, may play spoilsport to India’s ability to continue its rapid economic growth. It is truly troubling that food still consumes half of the expenditure of the average Indian household. No wonder a sharp spike in onion prices has the potential to upset the political calculus of social stability. India’s biggest challenge still remains ensuring food and nutritional security to its masses. Notwithstanding the nation’s...

To keep control over its flagship scheme ~ the much-hyped Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) ~ and to defeat its non-Congress regimes in various states, the Centre has given itself powers to check releasing funds due to ineffective implementation.   In a six-point instruction to states, the ministry of rural development has said that audit teams and media reports have reveaLED “anomalies” in the implementation of the MGNREGA. “If the...