Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the Supreme Court should not go “into the realm of policymaking”. This was his response at an interaction with newspaper editors here to the recent order by the apex court that the government give food free to the poor. The court’s directive had caused the government some embarrassment but it had been uncertain whether the Centre would legally challenge it. While appearing to be unwilling to...

Taking exception to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's statement, the Supreme Court today asserted that it had ordered free distribution of foodgrains to the poor instead of allowing them to rot in godowns and it was not a suggestion as made out by him. "It was not a suggestion. It is there in our order. You tell the Minister," the court told the government counsel. A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took strong exception to Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's statement that sugar prices might rise in near future. The apex court said that statements like these would encourage hoarding of sugar. The Supreme Court also asserted that it had ordered free distribution of foodgrains to the poor instead of allowing them to rot in godowns and it was not a suggestion as made out by...

The Mizoram Government has incurred a loss of Rs 9.66 crore per month for procurement of additional rice at economic price per month. The government has been compelled to procure additional 80,000 quintals of rice per month as the State’s quota, which is based on the 2001 Census, is far from meeting the actual requirement of the present population, including floating population amounting to two lakh, an official statement said today. Based...

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre to ensure free distribution of food grains to the hungry poor of the country instead of allowing it to rot in the FCI godowns. "Give it to the hungry poor instead of it (grains) going down the drain," a bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma said in an order. The bench further asked the Centre to ensure construction of a...