The Centre is planning to give a 26 per cent share in mining profits to tribal people and to set up a regulatory body to check illegal mining, Union Minister of Mines B.K. Handique informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The draft of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill — prepared on the basis of the policy directions set forth in the 2008 National Mineral Policy and the recommendations...

Union Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Sharad Pawar on Friday said retail prices of some food items like pulses, edible oil, milk and vegetables have been rising in the last six months. “There are few items (essential commodities) where there is no improvement in prices…retail prices of pulses such as urad dal and moong dal, edible oils like groundnut oil and vanaspati, milk and potato have shown...

Did the Union food minister hide facts from Parliament on the rotting grains in India? On Friday, Sharad Pawar claimed that the media reports of rotting of millions of tonnes of foodgrains are "quite exaggerated" while arguing that a master plan has been prepared to increase storage capacity. Replying to CPM member Brinda Karat during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Pawar said, "The statement which member made that millions of...

The executive on Monday lost another excuse to prevent disclosure of ministers' assets after the Lok Sabha Secretariat rejected a request from the Prime Minister's Office seeking the legislature's permission. The LS secretariat declined the request saying the RTI Act does not have any provision for giving such "clearances''. This means the PMO has to take a call on whether details of ministers' wealth should be disclosed or not. Incidentally,...

Even as the government plans to bring legislation that will define and punish perpetrators of honour killings, a study said most violent reactions appeared to be prompted when a girl chose to marry a boy from a lower caste than herself. The study commissioned by the National Commission for Women (NCW) and conducted by NGO `Shakti Vahini' profiled 560 cases which reflected that honour killing was a north Indian phenomenon,...