-The Indian Express A little over 11 years ago, when the Congress defeated the Asom Gana Parishad and Tarun Gogoi took over as chief minister of Assam, people had their doubts. Would this man who had spent most of his political career since 1971 as a Lok Sabha member be able to run this state? The state, with its unique tangle of ethnicity and politics, has, after all, always been a...
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Jairam Ramesh calls for freeze on fresh mining in worst Naxal-affected regions-Urmi Goswami
-The Economic Times Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has pitched for a moratorium on new mining projects in the worst Naxal-affected regions and particularly in areas recently recaptured from insurgents, saying it was essential to quell the Maoist problem wreaking havoc across much of India's hinterland. Tribal affairs minister Kishore Chandra Deo had earlier made this suggestion. In comments certain to draw the ire of industry, parts of which already view him...
More »Falling between two stools-AK Bhattacharya
-The Business Standard Beni Prasad Verma is wrong. Food inflation hurts more than 70% of Indian farmers Poor Beni Prasad Verma! In Lucknow on Monday, Mr Verma, who is the Union minister for steel, spoke not on steel, but on inflation — and kicked up a row that his government, already under stress, could have easily done without. Mr Verma argued that higher prices for agricultural goods meant more gains for India’s...
More »Basudeb Acharia, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture interviewed by Gargi Parsai
-The Hindu The debate on the pros and cons of genetically engineered/modified crops is universal. In India, in the face of vociferous protests, the controversy has only deepened leading to a moratorium on cultivation of Bt Brinjal crop — the first GM food crop sought to be commercialised. Gargi Parsai spoke to Basudeb Acharia, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, on its new report, “Cultivation of Genetically Modified Food...
More »A misdirected audit
-The Indian Express When the Delhi Development Authority had the sole right to build houses in the capital, it was unable to meet the demand from an expanding population. If private builders stepped in to build where the DDA was not doing so, is it a fair calculation to say that the profit they could make was a loss to the government exchequer? The CAG’s estimate of loss to the government...
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