The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) will meet on August 30 to finalise the contours of the National Food Security Bill. The meeting is expected to decide on the beneficiaries for UPA's big-ticket social scheme and their selection procedures. At its last meeting, NAC had drawn part conclusions, including National Food Security Act would be rolled out in a staggered way. For instance, 150 most poor districts are being...
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India rejects Vedanta plans to mine tribal land
India has rejected controversial plans by mining group Vedanta to extract bauxite in the eastern state of Orissa. The project had breached environmental protection acts and raised concerns for the rights of local tribes, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said. Vedanta's other ventures in Orissa were being investigated separately, he said. The company has yet to comment on the decision. It says it will bring jobs to the area - tribespeople say the plans...
More »After Posco, Vedanta: panel tells Govt don’t let them mine by Debabrata Mohanty and Amitabh Sinha
Citing violation of a host of environmental laws, a government-appointed expert panel has recommended that Vedanta Resources should not be allowed to go ahead with its proposed bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri hills area of Kalahandi and Rayagada districts in Orissa. A decision on this will be taken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests later this month. The expert panel, headed by Naresh C Saxena, a retired IAS officer who...
More »The Empire strikes back — and how! by P Sainath
The original report on ‘paid news' of the Press Council of India sub-committee is relegated to the archive. Then too, it does not even appear on the PCI's website. Presented with a chance to make history, the Press Council of India has made a mess instead. The PCI has simply buckled at the knees before the challenge of “Paid News.” Its decision of July 30 to sideline its own sub-committee's report...
More »Food for a billion by Nitin Sethi
On Wednesday, the National Advisory Council turned UPA's election promises into firm deliverables under the National Food Security Bill. That was a tough one to resolve itself. But it's a job half done as yet. The Sonia Gandhi-led NAC is now going to get into a much more difficult arena. It has to figure out provisions for the act that hold administration and bureaucracy accountable for delivery and also ensure...
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