Speculation on whether contents are intended to tarnish his and his son's image CD released prior to first meeting of joint committee on Lokpal Bill Circulation comes before Supreme Court verdict in Amar Singh tapes case The surreptitious surfacing of a compact disc containing an alleged phone conversation between senior advocate Shanti Bhushan; the former Samajwadi Party general secretary, Amar Singh; and the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, has raised...

A section of Congress is set to back the demand of chief ministers of BJP and other Opposition-ruled states to reject the Seeds Bill, 2010, in its present form. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, spearheading the campaign against the bill, has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar that the bill, whose avowed purpose is to facilitate production and supply of seeds of quality, will put the peasantry...

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is estimated to have incurred a financial loss of Rs 484.76 crore in 2010-11 due to damage to foodgrains and storage and transit loss, Food and Public Distribution minister K V Thomas said today. FCI, a nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrains, is estimated to have lost Rs 484.76 crore in 2010-11, as against Rs 437.87 crore in the previous year, the minister...

India may have to abide by a series of international standards and regulatory practices in the healthcare sector, if it agrees to some proposals that are part of the ongoing India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. For instance, EU negotiators have sought India’s commitment to adopting Global Harmonization Task Force (GHTF) norms for medical devices. The move comes at a time when India and other Asian countries are trying to formulate...

Production this year likely to be 24.5 million tonnes, compared to internal demand of 23 MT The Centre has allowed export of 5 lakh tonnes of sugar. It has asked sugar mills to register themselves for seeking the Release Order for exports under Open General Licence (OGL). They have been allowed to export raw, white and refined sugar, but no export subsidy will be given. Export only from new output The OGL export...