Everyone agrees that there is a food crisis. As ordinary members of the public we know there’s one every time we go out shopping for vegetables. My mother knows there’s a crisis because, after recently sacking her cook, she discovered the lady had left with all the onions in the house. The media agrees there’s one, and sends more TV crews to talk to onion farmers, even though the TV Reporters...

Battling a string of scams, the UPA government is likely to introduce a bill in the Budget session of Parliament to rein in corruption. "We are bringing a separate bill on corruption in accordance with the UN convention," Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told Reporters here. He said the government intended to bring the legislation in the next session itself. "In that direction, we are proceeding," he said. "We have agreed to the...

The West Bengal Government has constituted a medical board to decide on the beneficiaries of compensation in the firing in Netai village in Lalgarh on January 7. While Rs. 2 lakh would be paid to those killed in the firing on a crowd of villagers, allegedly from the house of a CPI(M) leader, Rs 1.5 lakh would be paid to those critically injured and Rs 50,000 to persons with less grave...

Mamata Banerjee today asked the government to withdraw its decision to decontrol oil prices, the demand coming on a day arch-rival Left announced a weeklong protest from early next month over the petrol price hike. Both spoke of the burden on the masses as the bitter enemies rehearsed for poll battles ahead: in Bengal, where Mamata is looking to topple the Marxists, and in Kerala, where the ruling Left is on...

A day after being sworn in, Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deskmukh Thursday said the Supreme Court's observation on his links with moneylenders who harass farmers was an "isolated incident". He also said there was no link between his new portfolio and farmer suicides in Maharashtra. "One isolated incident cannot be connected with other things," Deshmukh told Reporters after taking charge. The court last month had raised questions on the former Maharashtra...