Bhopal cast a pall on Singur today, fed by a cocktail of pollution, panic and politics. A chemical factory, declared a “fit case for closure” by the state pollution control board (PCB) two months ago, spewed carbon soot-laced smoke this dawn. The plant belongs to Himadri Chemicals and Industries, a company with an annual turnover of over Rs 500 crore and said to be the country’s largest manufacturer of coal tar...

The June 1 announcement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while releasing the Report Card for the first year of the second term of the United Progressive Alliance Government, that the Food Security Bill was under preparation and that the Bill would be placed in the public domain for scrutiny and wider consultation has raised hopes about early enactment of the law to ensure the people's right to food as part...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 29 May announced a Rs25,000 crore ($6 billion) plan for new farm sector projects by states, besides launching a food security mission to enhance output of wheat, rice and pulses. Speaking at the 53rd meeting of the National Development Council, he also warned that small and marginal farming had become an unviable proposition and until farming was made viable at this scale, it would be virtually...

Getting 55 weddings done in 90 minutes flat won't rank as a record. Getting them done at no cost to the very poor families involved might qualify as one. That these are actually part of a successful Maharashtra government programme surely sets this up for a Guinness Book entry. The 55 couples in Nandura tehsil of Buldhana district are all Muslims. And there's a dual minority angle to it —...

In the cotton fields of Vidarbha in central India, grief is a constant companion. Wherever you turn, there are heart-breaking stories of suicide. In the village of Mangi, friends and family are preparing the body of Laxman Tekam for burial. Women are wailing and men have tears streaming down their cheeks. Laxman was a cotton farmer who hanged himself from the roof beam of his small house after his debts...