The Food Corporation of India is looking to augment its storage capacity in the north-east region to ensure timely supplies for the government’s public distribution system. “Inadequate storage facility in the north-east region creates problems in ensuring regular supplies to the PDS (public distribution system),” Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar told ET. The current storage capacity of the government’s top grain management agency in the north-eastern states is 4.58 lakh...

Led by C. Rangarajan, it has been appointed by Manmohan In a significant move, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has formed an experts group chaired by the chief of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, C. Rangarajan, to examine the recommendations of the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council on the proposed food security Bill. The move surprised members of the council who met here on Friday to discuss the draft of the National Food...

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 two day 43rd Session of the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), the apex national tripartite body that discusses key issues affecting labour and employment and provides policy perspectives and recommendations, concluded in New Delhi today. The Conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday 23rd November 2010. Senior level representatives of the three pillars of the tripartism, Trade Unions, Employers’ Associations and Government, participated in the deliberations...

Maharashtra weeded out 2.9 million bogus ration cards last year, launching an identity verification drive to make the system foolproof. Residents had to provide electoral roll numbers, electricity bills and rent receipts to receive a ration card. Migrants had to present an official document confirming their change in residence. That led to the exclusion of many poor, homeless and migrant families as they lacked the necessary papers. This is the kind...