Experts show how electricity for poor people is possible Is electricity for all a pipe dream? Should we forget about electricity for all until we are able to provide more basic amenities like drinking water, nutritious food, education and healthcare?   India is home to the largest number of people without electricity. Half of Indian households do not have access to power, which constitute a third of the world's population without electricity. Though...

Tribal-dominated Raygada district in Orissa on Wednesday became the first district in the country to have biometric rations cards and bar-coded ration cards for its million plus population. designed jointly by the state government and the World Food Programme (WFP), the hi-tech biometric registration system aims to ensure that subsidised food goes only to those entitled to it. The district has been chosen as a pilot district by the World Food...

Raising doubts on the impartiality of the Saxena-Pandey committee appointed by the Centre, the Orissa government has questioned the authenticity of their findings about violations in the Posco project area. Countering the charge of violation of the Forest Rights Act, the state government has asked the environment ministry to reconsider its “stop work” order. In a letter to the Union environment ministry, the state government has alleged that “the way...

EVEN though the Right to Information Act guarantees citizens their right to know and expose corruption in government offices, increasing attacks on RTI activists have put this most important right in jeopardy. The RTI Act was enacted after a long struggle by civil rights organisations. However, those who dare question the ways of the powers that be and expose them are eliminated in cold-blooded murders. The manner in which Amit...

The 2010 Seeds Bill that has been introduced in Parliament does address some of the major concerns in the aborted 2004 version, but strangely a number of important correctives – on regulation, consistency and punishment – that had been incorporated in the 2008 version (which lapsed in 2009) have now been modified or dropped altogether. What forces are pushing the government to act against the interests of India’s farmers? The third...