The Supreme Court today directed the Haryana government to file a fresh status report within three weeks giving details of the relief and rehabilitation measures undertaken in Mirchpur, the scene of violence against Dalits in April this year. A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly passed the order after senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the victims comprising about 150 families which had fled the village following the incidents,...

Supreme Court questions the norms and method adopted by Centre to identify such families The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the norms and method adopted by the Centre in identifying below the poverty line (BPL) families, as the figures furnished by it and the States were at variance and the State governments had complained of inadequate supply of foodgrains. Earlier, senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the People's Union for Civil Liberties,...

Ensure proper distribution to targeted PDS beneficiaries The Supreme Court on Monday wanted the Centre to ensure that there was no further wastage of foodgrains and that there was proper distribution to the targeted beneficiaries. Justice Dalveer Bhandari, hearing a Public Interest Litigation petition on streamlining the Public Distribution System, told Additional Solicitor-General Mohan Parasaran, who said the wastage was 7,000 tonnes and not 70,000 tonnes: “Enough is enough. We don't want...

A Prolonged conflict between the Centre and state governments to identify “eligible” Below Poverty Line (BPL) families has made food distribution largely ineffective, leading to tons of food grains rotting at government storage houses, the Centre has admitted in the Supreme Court. Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, appearing for the Union Food Ministry, said both the Centre and the states agreed on the principle to supply food grains to BPL families...

The disclosure by the Centre for Science and Environment that 11 of the 12 leading brands of honey sold in India contain high levels of harmful antibiotics should make us acknowledge our failure to evolve and enforce environmental and health standards. Similar disclosures were made about pesticides in soft drinks and coliform bacteria in 'safe' bottled water. More distressing is the documentation since the 1980s of high content of pesticides...