Dr MS Swaminathan, NAC member and the father of India's green revolution talks to Rupashree Nanda on the food security legislation, the neglect in creating storage infrastructure and ideas like outsourcing food security issues. Rupashree Nanda: The main reason for the NAC climb down from the promised universal PDS to targeted PDS was the stated non - availability of foodgrains. Would you agree to that argument? Isn't there is not enough...

The much-awaited Bill on sexual harassment at workplaces gets the Cabinet nod for presentation in Parliament. ON November 4, the Union Cabinet gave the go-ahead for the enactment of a law on protection of women from sexual harassment at the workplace. Titled Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010, the draft law is basically a new avatar of the ones prepared in 2004. This development has been...

There is a need for documentation of traditional food systems of the tribal population to "retain" and "protect" them in a number of countries and this is "never more so" than in India, an FAO official said here today. "There is a clear imperative to protect traditional food systems, local food resources and their biodiversity in a number of countries and this is never more so than in India," Food and...

Each of the 18 samples of concrete cubes from the Shivaji Stadium site failed the test for required strength. The sample strength was 60%-85% less than the expected standard, raising questions on structural Safety. * The tendered cost for Naraina flyover was 48% higher than the estimated cost. While cost overruns were double in the case of the road underbridge at Sewa Nagar. * Targets were revised, penalties waived for the contractor...

The Kerala government will implement the World Bank-funded Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) from January. The project, which aims at improving the Safety and operational performance of selected structures, will cover dams, barrages and regulators, totalling 19, of the Irrigation Department and 12 projects of the Kerala State Electricity Board. C.N. Sathi, Chief Engineer (Investigation and Designs) of the Irrigation Department, told The Hinduthat the department had sought the release of...