The Supreme Court on May 7 ruled that natural resources were national assets that belonged to the people and were ideally exploited by public sector undertakings. This obviously implies that local communities, including tribals, living on mineralised land, enjoy entitlements but not prescriptive ownership rights to such national assets. This is an important reiterative clarification defining mineral rights in Fifth Schedule areas that are currently in contention. Whether PSUs should...
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Liquor lobby bets on NREGS to fuel rural thirst by Jinka Nagaraju
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has had an unintended side effect: a record rise in the consumption of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) among poor rural families, all thanks to the unprecedented sums of money that the scheme placed in their hands. And the politico-realtor lobby’s record bids for the two-year liquor licences across AP on Monday appears to be in the hope of reaping a bumper harvest...
More »MSP for pulses increased
To encourage cultivation of pulses, the Union government on Thursday increased the minimum support prices by up to 33 per cent, but did not extend the favour to other kharif crops. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, increased the minimum support price of arhar by Rs. 700 a quintal to Rs. 3,000, of moong by Rs. 410 to Rs. 3,170 and of urad by...
More »Bhopal panic seeps into Singur Ash from factory with blot on record by Kinsuk Basu and Jayanta Basu
Bhopal cast a pall on Singur today, fed by a cocktail of pollution, panic and politics. A chemical factory, declared a “fit case for closure” by the state pollution control board (PCB) two months ago, spewed carbon soot-laced smoke this dawn. The plant belongs to Himadri Chemicals and Industries, a company with an annual turnover of over Rs 500 crore and said to be the country’s largest manufacturer of coal tar...
More »Population, incomes tilt India towards food imports
India's anxiety over erratic monsoon rains will become more acute as rising incomes and a growing population push up demand for farmed produce faster than supply, turning the nation into a major importer within 5 years. Forecasts of a normal monsoon this year have stirred hopes for smooth supplies and low inflation, reversing setbacks from last year's poor rains. But the country must boost yields if it is to feed...
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