-Frontline Farmers protest against the Central clearance for coal bed methane exploration in Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, as they fear it will devastate agriculture in Tiruvarur and Thanjavur districts. THE woes of the delta farmers of Tamil Nadu are far from over. While the Cauvery tangle continues unresolved, they fear the proposed multi-crore project for commercial exploration and exploitation of coal bed methane (CBM) in the Mannargudi block of Tiruvarur district will prove...
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For profit, not people-Sitaram Yechury
-The Hindustan Times With UPA 2 having carried the day on the motions disapproving foreign direct investment (FDI) in India’s multi-brand retail trade sector, the crescendo for a fresh round of GenNext reforms has reached a higher pitch. The editorial in this newspaper titled The slog overs have begun (Our Take, December 10) states, “Now that FDI in retail is through, the UPA must push ahead with other reforms.” The Congress-led coalitions...
More »Start now, fix later -Samar Halarnkar
-The Hindustan Times Indians love slogans. So, since Independence, successive governments have offered catch lines to their electorates. Some slogans were inopportune because they were of dubious accuracy. Jawaharlal Nehru’s 1950s ‘Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai’ — Indians and Chinese are brothers — (even Nehru did not believe this), led to a battlefield defeat. The Congress’ 1975 Emergency-era ‘Indira is India and India is Indira’ and the BJP’s 2004 ‘India Shining’ were electoral disasters. Some...
More »Cash Transfer Debate: Experts speak
-Tehelka The cash transfer debate has turned political with BJP complaining to the Election Commission about the timing of the announcement. It claims the scheme was declared with Gujarat polls in mind. However the Congress-led Central government rubbished the allegation and said the announcement happened in March. Even the political slugfest continues, the debate among experts and activists hasn’t died down. Akshai Jain spoke to a few experts about the various...
More »Socialism, Cash Down-Uttam Sengupta and Arindam Mukherjee
-Outlook Its ploy of Aadhar-hinged cash transfer may have won the Congress political points, but will it really be a game-changer? State-Wise 40% of the 22 crore Aadhar numbers are in Andhra Pradesh (4.7 crore) and Maharashtra (4 crore) 20% is what the two politically sensitive, Congress-ruled states account for of the 51 districts where DCT will be rolled out 55 lakh Aadhar numbers in TMC-run West Bengal. BJP-ruled Gujarat (57...
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