Media "stars" named in the Niira Radia tapes were all on television in Spanish inquisition programmes to defend themselves. Unfortunately, the ruse did not work, as all covered themselves with more dirt, and were unable to explain why they were allowing a corporate lobbyist to instruct and direct them as to not only who they should call, but what they should write.One struck a belligerent note, almost shouting at the...

It spreads across five countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Africa and Bhutan, apart from a total of 34 of the 71 districts in Uttar Pradesh. It involves over 450 Class-I government officials and another 800 middle and lower rung subordinates apart from some 10,000 private entities and may require 5,000 FIRs to cover the scam in totality. The foodgrain scam of Uttar Pradesh has emerged as a strong contender for...

A farmer on Monday committed suicide due to bad crops and under the fear of non-payment of debt taken from the Moneylender in Maharashtra's Thane District.The farmer was identified as Govind Patil, who had taken loan from a Moneylender for growing crops.Meanwhile, farmer's association has requested the government to waive off all debts of the deceased farmer."The farmer who has committed suicide, his all debts should be waived off and...

Former Assam chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today claimed the state government was responsible for a scam of Rs 180 crore of NREGA funds besides the multi-crore fund diversion in N C Hills. "I have with me relevant documents of the NREGA scam," the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly told reporters here. The AGP leader also claimed that for the past six months, the government had failed to submit...

The papers in this volume, as indicated in the preface, are not envisaged to be mere academic exercises; they are intended to provide the basis for informed discussions among key stakeholders and with policymakers involved in the areas related to agriculture, food security and rural development in India. If achieving self-sufficiency in food is the primary goal of agriculture policy, poverty alleviation is the second. As has been pointed out,...