Tamil Nadu offers maximum economic freedom and Bihar the least among 20 of India's big states, according to a study released on Tuesday. The Economic Freedom of the States in India 2011 ranked the states based on the extent of wealth, administrative and social parameters in 2009. The USbased Cato Institute published the rankings in association with Indicus Analytics and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Both the states retained their positions...

The governing body of a United Nations-backed treaty considered vital for the preservation and use of the world’s threatened plant genetic resources met in Bali, Indonesia, today to map out a future course in the face of food insecurity and climate change. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, adopted at the Conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2001 and backed by 127...

The Supreme Court on Monday granted four weeks to the Centre to take a clear stand regarding a CBI probe into alleged misuse of funds allocated to the States. The court was dealing with a petition alleging misappropriation of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Orissa. In an interim order on the writ petition filed by the Centre for Environment and Food Security, a three-Judge Bench,...

Amendment is aimed at ‘intermediaries,' but it will end up targeting bloggers The draft proposal to amend the Indian IT Act so as to impose restrictions on intermediaries has provoked a huge outcry in the country, especially among its vocal bloggers. While the proposed rules seek to control the ‘intermediaries' such as telecom networks, web-hosting sites and Internet service providers, search engines, online payment, cyber cafes and auction sites, it is the...

Rita Sharma, Secretary of India's National Advisory Council (NAC), has been appointed to a new commission on climate change to be chaired by Britain's chief scientific adviser Sir John Beddington. The new Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change, has been set up by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research's Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security program (CCAFS). Sharma is among 13 members of the commission which, in...