The Supreme Court on May 7 ruled that natural resources were national assets that belonged to the people and were ideally exploited by public sector undertakings. This obviously implies that local communities, including tribals, living on mineralised land, enjoy entitlements but not prescriptive ownership rights to such national assets. This is an important reiterative clarification defining mineral rights in Fifth Schedule areas that are currently in contention. Whether PSUs should...

The reconstructed National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, will consider the food security Bill as its first priority when it meets again next month. At its first meeting held here today, Gandhi’s team decided to meet again on July 1 to discuss the Bill and finalise its recommendations. NAC has also decided to revisit the Communal Violence (prevention) Bill, which has been lying with the...

In the hierarchy of sins, robbing the poorest of the poor is right up there. That is what the holders of the 11.28 lakh fake ration cards in Madhya Pradesh are guilty of. By state government estimates, these duplicates constitute 16 per cent of all ration cards in the state. Since the Below Poverty Line and Antyodaya (meant for the very poorest) cards entitle holders to essential food commodities such...

The India growth story is enviable. Despite plaguing problems, India has emerged stronger and resilient to the global crisis so far. India is expected to be the world's fastest growing economy by 2018, according to Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research arm of the Economist magazine. India, the second largest growing economy will overtake China as the fastest growing major economy with an average of eight per cent in the...

The June 1 announcement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while releasing the Report Card for the first year of the second term of the United Progressive Alliance Government, that the Food Security Bill was under preparation and that the Bill would be placed in the public domain for scrutiny and wider consultation has raised hopes about early enactment of the law to ensure the people's right to food as part...