Chief economic advisor to the finance ministry Kaushik Basu says the government should step in and acquire land for development projects to protect the interests of farmers. He also explains why the government cannot tackle food inflation by distributing free foodgrain among the poor. Excerpts from interview with ET: A large number of land-intensive project have run into opposition. Could it actually undermine our infrastructure thrust and growth? There is...

A 24-hour nationwide strike called by trade unions has caused major disruption in parts of India. The walkout was felt mostly in Tripura, Kerala and West Bengal states where the ruling Communists backed the action. Called to protest against price rises and alleged labour law violations, the action caused major disruption to air and road transport in those states. The coal, power, telecom, banking, insurance, defence, port, petroleum and construction sectors joined the...

The country is in a vortex of challenges, counter-challenges and suspicious suggestions even amongst good friends on the desirability or otherwise of inclusion of caste in Census 2011. I feel that a calmer discussion may clear a number of cobwebs. It is common ground that the caste system exists in our country since centuries. It is unnecessary to dilate upon the origin of caste; whether due to the freezing of the...

Many governments in the developing world lack the will to eradicate child labour, says the third ILO global report on the deplorable practice. The effects of the present global economic and financial crisis, rather than its causes, have been the central preoccupation of organisations such as the International Labour Organisation in recent times. The ILO, in particular, has focussed on the impact of the crisis on populations within the least...

Three affected villages did not receive copies of the environmental impact assessment report  Despite it being Akshaya Trithiya, more than 1,000 people turned up for the hearing About 2,300 people have lost land to the project Angry protests stalled a public hearing of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project (JNPP) at Madban village in Maharashtra on Sunday. Only after officials acknowledged their mistake of not providing copies of the environmental impact assessment (EIA)...