-The Hindustan Times In his Independence Day address, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the rupee is down because of the global economic crisis. A look at the events of the last decade reveals otherwise. When the global economy was doing well between 2002 and 2008, the rupee was stable at about Rs. 45 to a dollar. When the global crisis erupted in 2008 and continued until 2012, the rupee held stable...
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Big ‘no’ to cash transfers under Food Bill -Gargi Parsai
-The Hindu While the UPA is showcasing cash transfers as a key initiative and has even made a provision for it in the National Food Security Bill (NFSB), there is a strong resistance to it. Major Opposition parties are moving amendments against cash transfers, food coupons and cash allowances in lieu of food even as the law is to come up for approval. So far, Delhi and Bihar are keen on providing cash...
More »Food Security Bill on shaky turf -KP Prabhakaran Nair
-The New Indian Express In 1948 when the United Nations passed the covenant ensuring the right to food, vis-à-vis the right to proper livelihood, to which India became a signatory, it did not envisage that the whole issue would be caught up in such an imbroglio - political and economic - as one witnesses today. The original covenant in article 25 ensures the "right to work and livelihood" and right to...
More »Thousands demand BRAI bill be withdrawn, India be GMO free
-Deccan Chronicle New Delhi: On the eve of Quit India Day, August 8, over 2,000 citizens from 20 states came together at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi for a day-long protest and march demanding that GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) and multinational seed giant, Monsanto quit India. The delegation marched to Parliament also asking the government to withdraw the BRAI (Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India) bill 2013. An Indian flag made out of organic...
More »Schools for scandal -Anil Sadgopal
-Frontline The midday meal scheme is a grand idea in a flawed school system. "THEY played here, studied here and got buried here!" (Yahin khela, yahin padha aur yahin ho gaya dafan). With these emphatic words, grieving parents buried the bodies of two children within the compound of the Dharmasati Gandaman Primary School of Masharakh block in Saran district of Bihar. This sentiment was expressed with great dignity even in the...
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