The Bihar government has shifted its focus to agriculture with the intent to make the state a “pioneer” in the second green revolution, stung by the lukewarm response of investors coupled with the Centre’s “non-cooperation” in ushering in an era of industrial growth. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has constituted an agriculture CABinet comprising 17 government departments. The department is aided by agriculture scientist and former director-general of the Indian Council of...

A Supreme Court-appointed committee finds large-scale illegal mining in Karnataka with the connivance of officials. THE issue of illegal mining in Karnataka and the large-scale corruption in political and public life resulting from it refuses to stay away from the headlines. The sordid tale of mining-linked corruption (Cover Story; Frontline, July 16, 2010) has had a few recurring characters – a beleaguered but defiant Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Minister B.S....

Compensation for land for BMIC hiked to Rs. 40 lakh an acre Following widespread protests and demands by farmers for higher compensation for land acquired for the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project, the State CABinet on Thursday decided to increase the compensation paid for 1,916 acres acquired in three villages by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), which is executing the expressway project. Land in Gonipura and Thippur located near...

An annual meeting of Asian finance ministers and central bank governors in Hanoi is set to address the fate of 64 million people in the region on the brink of extreme poverty. They are the worst affected by soaring food prices, which have hit record highs in the first two months of this year. "The issue of food price inflation and food security will indeed be one of the key topics...

Continuing with its social sector agenda, the Union CABinet is expected to consider a proposal to provide health insurance to all workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The CABinet will on Thursday consider a proposal to extent the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to MGNREGS. The scheme, as of now, is appliCABle only below the poverty line families. Under the scheme implemented in Public Private Partnership mode,...