For past several weeks, thousands of farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Jharkhand have been left in the lurch. They had planted urd and til crops in a large acreage, and to their dismay no grain formation took place in the standing crop. Unable to bear the economic loss, at least four farmers have reportedly committed suicide. Thousands of farmers have been pushed deeper into economic distress....

“Schools and hostels now being occupied by security forces must be vacated” Supreme Court orders police protection to one of the petitioners With the petitioners in the ongoing PIL case on Salwa Judum asking for the formation of a high-level committee to oversee the rehabilitation of displaced persons in Chhattisgarh and deal with criminal matters arising from the activities of the state-sponsored anti-Naxal movement, the Centre, through the Solicitor-General, on Thursday told...

A bill to put in place the proposed biotechnology regulator is likely to be taken up for consideration by the Cabinet at its meeting on Thursday. The proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) seeks to replace the existing multiple mechanisms that are operating under different administrative ministries. The proposed bill — initially prepared in 2008 — has been now revised substantially. The proposed authority will now deal only with safety...

BJP is screaming hoarse about corruption in the UPA and demanding telecom minister A Raja's scalp for alleged misdeeds related to 2G spectrum allotment. But in Karnataka, where the party is in power, more skeletons are tumbling out of the scam-scarred B S Yeddyurappa government's cupboard. The latest to come to light had the chief minister allot land to his sons' company. In the first of the three cases, about which...

India's Public Distribution System (PDS) has been in a bad shape for decades, often thought to be beyond repair. Recent experience, however, suggests otherwise. Political will, increased transparency and community participation have led to an amazing revival of the PDS in Chhattisgarh though the state has only shown contempt for people's rights in other contexts… Somehow, the PDS became a political priority in Chhattisgarh and a decision was made to turn...