Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan today welcomed the Kerala High Court ruling setting aside the Election Commission (EC) order restraining it from extending the scheme to provide rice at Rs. 2 per kg to fresh Beneficiaries. In a statement here today, Achuthanandan said Opposition leader Oommen Chandy "should apologise" to the people for allegedly trying to scuttle the scheme. The EC had in a letter to the Chief Minister mentioned that...

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar recently alleged that Monsanto, the Union environment ministry’s genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) had colluded to start trials of genetically modified maize in Bihar before clearance from the environment ministry and the state government. The charge is significant: Nitish says ICAR’s experimental farms in Bihar did not maintain the stipulated “isolation distance” from normal farmland, meant to...

The World Bank and the United Nations have hailed it as one of the best health insurance schemes around the globe. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's Budget called this UPA flagship, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), an 'effective instrument' for providing basic health cover to the poor. Yet, UPA-ruled states have virtually disowned the scheme - just 11% of the scheme's Rs 2.31 crore active Beneficiaries are in UPA-run territories, an...

The Supreme Court, hearing the 2G spectrum scam case, on Wednesday asked the CBI to appoint the best person as public prosecutor to conduct the trial in the special court, to be appointed before March 29. Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, said he would take instructions and a suitable person would be appointed. Earlier, the CBI told a Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly that it would...

The Bangladeshi Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus against a High Court decision to uphold his sacking. Prof Yunus had to stand down as managing director two weeks ago after the authorities said that at 70, he was past the mandatory retirement age. His supporters say it is related to his attempt to enter politics three years ago, a charge the government denies. Prof Yunus told...