The debate on genetically modified crops is gaining momentum again. However, this time, it seems the engineered food is losing ground to traditional crops. Eleven farmers from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu made a series of submissions explaining the havoc wrought by Bt cotton on their farms. Their main contention was that Bt cotton had not given them economic benefits. As a matter of fact, they had become poorer, their soils had...
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CBI men back on fodder dirt trail by Suman K Shrivastava
A Jharkhand High Court whip, issued to the CBI two months back, has put fodder scam cases against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra on the fast track. The CBI, which has been handling as many as 53 fodder scam cases for one and half decades, is now under pressure to complete investigations in the 15 pending cases, of which five involve the two former chief ministers and...
More »Aruna Roy, Magsaysay award winner and former bureaucrat interviewed by Danish Raza
Aruna Roy, a Magsaysay award winner former bureaucrat, was closely involved in the drafting of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. As a member of the UPA's National Advisory Council (NAC), among other things, she has been conveying to the government the views of civil society on the proposed changes in the transparency act. On the sidelines of 3rd national convention of National Campaign for People’s Right to Information, held...
More »Long way to go by PS Krishnan
Budget 2011-12 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. THREE decades ago, in the early years of the Special Component Plan (SCP) for Scheduled Castes – very recently renamed inappropriately as Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) – Indira Gandhi on her return as Prime Minister wrote two historical D.O. letters dated March 12, 1980, one to Central Ministers and the other to State Chief Ministers, regarding the SCP in the Central...
More »Judicial check by V Venkatesan
The quashing of the appointment of P.J. Thomas as the CVC shows the judiciary can go beyond the express provisions of law to render justice. THE Indian Constitution does not envisage strict separation of powers among the three branches of the government – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. This flexibility permits marginal incursions though one branch cannot usurp the essential functions of the other. One of the essential functions...
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