Opening the reply to the President's Motion of Thanks on behalf of the Left parties in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, demanded the stopping of the “loot” of public money in the form of concessions to corporates and high-end taxpayers. This relief, worth several lakhs of rupees, should be used to narrow the rich-poor divide, he added. Calling upon the government to shift policy...
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FDI push & price pill by Jayanta Roy Chowdhury
President Pratibha Patil today reaffirmed the government’s resolve “to maintain the momentum for reforms on a wide front”, prompting policymakers to outline the possible economic agenda ahead of the budget just a week away. Top officials offered their take on the phrase, mentioned in Patil’s speech to Parliament at the start of the budget session. According to the them, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee are looking to...
More »Hard questions about soft questions by P Sainath
There was in fact a successful auction of spectrum — only it was not conducted by the government but by its corporate sector cronies who made a fortune on the deal. On one pronouncement of his, you have to agree with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. His is not a ‘lame-duck government.' Cooked goose seems the more appropriate soubriquet. However, not a single new scam worth over Rs. 1 lakh crore has...
More »NAC pushing for its version of Food Security Bill by Smita Gupta
Union Food Ministry to convene consultation of its officials with NAC and EAC representatives Pressure from the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) on the new Union Food Minister, K.V. Thomas, to accept its recommendations rather than the watered down version of the Rangarajan panel, which was set up to examine the NAC's recommendations, appears to be working. Government sources told The Hindu that the Union Food Ministry is hoping to shortly...
More »Draft food bill near completion,to cover 70% population: Thomas
The government today said the draft Food Security Bill, which entitles nearly two-thirds of the population to subsidised foodgrains, was almost ready. The Bill will legally entitle up to 70% of population to subsidised foodgrains as against the NAC's proposal to cover 75%. "We are going to introduce the Food Security Bill, almost 65-70% of the population are going to get the benefit," Food Minister K V Thomas said at the National...
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