If the combined Opposition had sat down for weeks so as to find an issue to embarrass the UPA Government and make it a laughing stock before the whole country, they could not have thought of a better issue than the free gift presented to it by the UPA Government by initially insisting that it had irrevocably decided to allow the entry of multi-brand retail leader superstores like Walmart, USA...

For the Government of India the first phase of the national solar mission has been a grand success. It not only managed to attract industry to invest in the generation of an energy considered costly, but also dramatically drove down the cost of producing this energy. In its celebration, little did the government realise that a major conglomerate had subverted rules to acquire a stake in the solar mission much...

-The Times of India   West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s request for increased supply of urea as prices of nutrient based fertilizers are increasing has highlighted the challenges the Centre’s bid to reduce urea use and promote a more balanced product mix faces.  Arguing that farmers should not be asked to purchase costlier nutrient-based NPK (nitrogen, phosporus and potassium) fertilizer, Banerjee has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for more urea for the...

Agrarian crisis continued in Bengal with farmers continuing to commit suicide after failing to sell their crops. The latest such incident was reported from Malda district in North Bengal, police said. Dayal Chandra Burman a middle-aged peasant committed suicide on Sunday morning at Gajole block in Malda district after he failed to repay Rs 30,000 taken as loan from moneylenders for paddy cultivation. He failed to sell his crops for the...

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand—all sugarcane-growing regions—are in the middle of an election campaign. The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of...