Seeking to pressurise the central government further on the issue of rotting food grains, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, Sep 18 urged the farmers to unite and corner the Congress-led UPA. The saffron party held a dharna in the national capital demanding better storage facilities, and minimum support price for farmers' produce. Speaking to the famers who gathered at the dharna, senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh said, "There is an...

An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to revise the issue price of levy sugar for the public distribution system (PDS). The group is going to meet on Thursday with a three-point agenda for discussion. The government had recently increased the price of levy sugar for mills, which is meant for PDS, to an average of Rs 17.57 per kg for the 2009-10 crop...

The goal of food for all can be achieved only through sustained efforts in producing, saving and sharing foodgrains. The Supreme Court of India has rendered great service by arousing public, professional and political concern about the co-existence of rotting grain mountains and mounting hungry mouths. In several African countries hunger is increasing because food is either not available in the market, or is too expensive for the poor. Food inflation...

When we have policies trample on people's rights, and people go to courts seeking redress, what should the courts do, Prime Minister? Dear Prime Minister, I was delighted to learn that you said, while also “respectfully” ticking off the Supreme Court, that tackling food, rotting grain etc., — are all policy matters. You are absolutely right and it was time somebody said so. With that, you brought a whiff of honesty so...

The Central Vigilance Commission has advised prosecution proceedings against 17 officers, including an IAS, working in different government organisations for their alleged involvement in corruption. After conducting preliminary inquiries, the CVC has found that Sanjiv Kumar, a 1985-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, working with Ministry of Personnel, PG and Pensions and Bose Partha Sarathi, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Special Crime Branch, in Central Bureau of Investigation were allegedly involved in...