Kaushik Basu proposes a new framework for release of foodgrains from government warehouses. Last year, official food inflation peaked at 21.05 per cent for the week ended November 28. Since then, it has eased — though the year-on-year rise of 10.86 per cent for August 21 is still in double-digit territory. Moreover, in absolute terms, the ‘food articles' index for the latest recorded week, at 303.3, is higher than the 296.1 level...

The government is planning to put in place a more transparent mining policy by designating parts of mineral-rich regions as out of bounds for industry because of environmental concerns, a move that can avoid episodes such as the recent ban on mining at Niyamgiri in Orissa but could hurt expansion plans of companies located in such areas. The plan is to divide the country’s mineral-rich regions into so-called ‘go’ and...

The method of selection of Information Commissioners cries out for reform. FOR the Right to Information (RTI) Act to be successful, it is not enough if it has provisions that encourage information-sharing and punish those Information Officers who deny requests for information on specious grounds. Activists have found that while deciding appeal cases the degree of commitment of Information Commissioners to the Act's objectives matters more than the supportive provisions of...

Members across the political spectrum expressed concern in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday over attempts by the Press Council of India to “suppress vital information” on “paid news,” and demanded that the government intervene and make public the report of the PCI sub-committee. Raising the issue during zero hour, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Brinda Karat said the 72-page report was not being made public, and the names of big media...

In the absence of any concrete guidelines from the state governments, schools seem to be clueless about the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. On Wednesday, a premier school in Gurgaon stalled their nursery admission, saying they will resume the process after they receive guidelines regarding the RTE Act from the government. Delhi Public School, sector-45 in Gurgaon, which had started its admission process from August 2, has stopped it...