The Ministry of Environment and Forest’s decision to stall the Vedanta project in Orissa must be understood. The ‘story’ is about a powerful company breaking the law. But it is equally about a development puzzle in which the richest lands of India are where the poorest people subsist. The N.C. Saxena committee has indicted the mining conglomerate on three counts of breaking the environmental laws. One, it took over and...

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the expansion of the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Livestock Health and Disease Control’ by adding four new components and enlarging the scope of the existing Foot and Mouth Disease Control Programme from 54 Districts to 221 districts. The new components to be added are: (i) National Animal Disease Reporting System (ii) National Control Programme on Peste des Petits Ruminants, (iii) National Control Programme on Brucellosis and (iv) Establishment and...

There is an interesting debate on food security and we should get the Planning Commission’s perspective on this. But as I write this, the Planning Commission Web site still does not have the mid-term appraisal, so Yojana Bhavan must still be polishing it. This column has, over time, taken the position that the food security programme is really important and a country growing as fast as India simply cannot ignore...

With the government readying to introduce a Bill in Parliament to modify the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) to include public-private partnership (PPP) projects, many project managers are close to gagging. The main reason behind why the public sector has not performed, they argue along with several in government, is the fear of the 3Cs — the CBI, the CVC and the CAG. Since almost...

Right to Food Movement, a network of NGOs favouring a food security law, said the NAC should address issues of abundance of food and Efficiency of a public distribution system before finalising the draft on food security Bill. Citing Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) norms that prescribe 14 kg of cereals, 1.5 kg of pulses and 800 grams of cooking oil for a moderately active adult per month, RFM said...