Policymakers have repeatedly said that commodity futures help farmers hedge their risks. But data from Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the regulator for the business worth Rs 106 lakh crore during April-October, paints a different picture. The share of agricultural trade is just a tad over 10% and within this, food products such as soya oil and chana accounted for less than 7% of the total value. Of course, the government itself...

-PTI   140 Rajya Sabha members have declared that they do not have any pecuniary interests as directors of companies, controlling shares, regular salaries, paid consultancies and professional engagements despite some of them having declared assets worth crores in their election affidavits.   Voluntary groups, Association of Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, which received this information under the Right to Information Act, on Thursday made public the Register of Interests of Rajya Sabha Members...

-The Telegraph   The RSS today came out in support of Anna Hazare’s protest against the Centre over the Lokpal bill. An official statement, based on a news conference addressed by Sangh general secretary Suresh “Bhaiyya” Joshi, said: “The RSS, in a resolution it had passed at its national delegates’ convention in March 2011, said clearly that it will support the campaigns against corruption. Accordingly, our swayamsevaks have participated constructively in all these...

The Radia tapes reveal the networks and routers, the source codes and malware that bind the corporate and political establishments in India. As squeamish schoolchildren know only too well, dissection is a messy business. Some instinctively turn away, others become nauseous or scared. Not everyone can stomach first hand the inner workings of an organic system. Ten days ago, a scalpel — in the form of a set of 104 intercepted...

Former NDA minister Arun Shourie has said he was replaced as a lead speaker in a budget debate over fears that he would oppose a proposal that may have benefited Mukesh Ambani, bring the BJP under glare at a time the party has been targeting the Congress on corruption. The statement also reflects how much Shourie and the BJP have drifted apart since the dramatic events triggered by the party’s defeat...