The Indian government has approved the inclusion of information on caste in the ongoing population census. The controversial decision was taken by a group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Caste-based parties say the information will help the government target affirmative action benefits better. But critics say caste is the most regressive feature of Indian society; that it is repressive, reinforces hierarchy and breeds inequity. India has been conducting the national census...

Complaints have reached the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MMA) that as in Andhra Pradesh, in Bihar too, banks have refused to allow tens of thousands of Muslim students to open scholarship accounts. On July 28, the MMA wrote to all State Chief Secretaries directing them to facilitate the opening of “no frills, nil balance” accounts by minority students. This followed feedback that in Andhra Pradesh banks had turned away as many...

“Consider increasing quantum of food supply to BPL population” ‘Consider opening fair price shops for all the 30 days in a month' A Bench passed the order, taking on record affidavit filed by Centre To deal with the problem of foodgrains rotting in godowns, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to consider distributing them at “very low cost” or “no cost” as a short term measure. A Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari...

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...

Build-up of different types of resistance could make it more difficult to manage the plants using herbicides. Transgenes present in 80 per cent of wild canola found by study Authorities had anticipated the existence of GM “volunteers” Researchers in the U.S. have found new evidence that genetically modified crop plants can survive and thrive in the wild, possibly for decades. A University of Arkansas team surveyed countryside in North Dakota for canola. Transgenes were...