The budget is more concerned about the consumer than the grower A LOOMING food crisis in the world and high food inflation rates at home made Pranab Mukherjee’s proposals to boost agriculture in his 2011 budget more keenly watched than usual. These are factors that clearly weighed with the finance minister who repeatedly said that his principal concern this year has been the continuing high food prices. The squeeze on the...
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Punjab Budget woos women, BPL families by Sukhdeep Kaur
“Budget is more than a document of income and expenditure. People expect it to tackle the twin problems of poverty and social injustice while ensuring better income and standard of living.” Country’s first woman Finance Minister of any state government, Upinderjit Kaur, said this while presenting her first budget and last of the present Akali-BJP government on Monday. With the state slated to go to polls early next year, the Rs...
More »Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, father of Indian Green Revolution interviewed by Sreelatha Menon
Forty years ago Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan helped rescue the world from growing famine and a deepening gloom over the future of food supplies. Today, public policy projects itself as pro-farmer but it does it half-heartedly, complains Swaminathan. M S Swaminathan, member of the National Advisory Council and father of the Green Revolution says the government's allocation for agriculture is insignificant. Doesn't the Union Budget reflect a new focus on agriculture?...
More »RTI raises hope of justice by Andrew W Lyngdoh
A few helpless spectators of injustice dived into past pain and picked out poignant personal tales at a national convention to understand if the Right to Information Act can help them turn back and undo a few wrongs. V. Narzary was one such youth who came all the way from the Bodo belt in Assam to ask experts whether he could revisit, through the RTI Act, a case where the army...
More »PPSS leaders reiterate resolve not to leave land for Posco project
Despite poor participation of local villagers in the anti-Posco rally organized by Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) at Balitutha, the entry point to the Posco project site near Paradip, the PPSS leaders today reiterated their resolve not to hand over 2900 acres forest land to the South Korean company for its steel project. The PPSS rally particularly turned into a damp squib as four MPs of West Bengal, who had earlier...
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