Led by C. Rangarajan, it has been appointed by Manmohan In a significant move, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has formed an experts group chaired by the chief of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, C. Rangarajan, to examine the recommendations of the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council on the proposed food security Bill. The move surprised members of the council who met here on Friday to discuss the draft of the National Food...

The rural development ministry has expressed its reservations on linking wages paid under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with minimum wages mandated by states for farm labour. In an internal note, which was reviewed by Mint, the ministry said such a step could lead to the states upwardly revising minimum wages for farm labour, an increased burden that the Central government then would have to bear. The ministry,...

The government must stop dilly-dallying over the project and apply the law regardless of the fact that it is India's single largest foreign investment proposal. TWO giant metallurgical projects, both in Orissa. Both promoted by big multinational corporations with tremendous influence. Both opposed by environmental and tribal rights activists because they would displace vulnerable people and destroy fragile ecosystems. Both backed strongly by State-level and national lobbies that claim they...

Inflation declined marginally to a 10-month low of 8.58% in October, prompting policymakers to proclaim victory in their effort to cool prices, but economists remained sceptical saying the fight is far from over. The decline was mainly due a fall in food inflation to 14.13% from 15.71% in September and the base effect, or higher inflation of last year, data released on Monday showed. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the full impact...

As environment minister Jairam Ramesh gets close to deciding the fate of $12 billion Posco’s steel plant in Orissa, civil society pressure from India and around the world is mounting to scrap the project. Around 40 business schools professors have urged Ramesh to look into the dubious data produced by Orissa to convince importance of the Posco’s project of steel plant and a port. The professors, who analysed reports submitted by different...