The experts group, chaired by chief of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council C. Rangarajan, set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to examine the recommendations of the National Advisory Council (NAC) on the proposed National Food Security Bill, will hold its first meeting here on Friday. Even as the NAC is formulating the draft Bill, the experts group will examine the proposals and come up with its suggestions. A meeting of...

The National Advisory Council (NAC) will meet here on Friday to discuss the working group's draft of the National Food Security Bill. The draft suggests the setting up of an autonomous body for grievance redress and enforcement of penalties. The authority could function along the lines of the national and State-level commissions set up under the Right to Information Act. The draft Bill defines the penalties for violations of the Act, and...

The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), probing alleged financial bungling in the Commonwealth Games-related projects, has referred certain cases to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to check whether there was violation of foreign exchange laws. Official sources said that projects like construction of Commonwealth Games Village near Akshardham temple and flyovers, hiring and procurement of medical and fitness equipment and conduct of outdoor publicity campaign by the Organising Committee may come under the...

A parliamentary committee has asked the government to consider incentivising private players to set up grain storage facilities as it prepares to implement the right to food. The government will require around 620 lakh tonnes of foodgrain annually to implement the food security law. The official procurement stood at 539.75 lakh tonnes in the recent marketing year. “(The) government should provide soft loans at affordable rates and subsidies to private players to...

A scam worth about Rs 8.81 crore has been detected in the Food Corporation of India (FCI) godown at Dumroan in Buxar district. While assistant manager of the godown Umakant Dubey has been suspended by senior area manager of FCI Sandipan Chattopadhyay, an FIR has been lodged with the Dumroan police station in this connection. According to Chattopadhyay, the FCI has been running two popular schemes -- Karif Marketing Season (KMS)...