For two decades the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) has taken the Right to Information Act to the grassroots. KAVERI GILL was witness to a mela that celebrated its 20th anniversary at Bhim, Rajasthan. The occasion was no political party rally, nor was there any promise of handouts by the state, dangling a carrot or wielding a stick to elicit attendance On Labour Day, a maidan in Bhim, District Rajsamand,...
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Mismanaging food
Bizarre are the ways of the government when it comes to managing, or mismanaging, the country’s food economy. On the one hand, it goes on mopping up bulk of the wheat and rice arriving in the mandis to build up its grain stocks, clearly to prevent foodgrain prices from falling below the minimum support price (MSP) level. On the other hand, it plans to offload 3 million tonnes of wheat...
More »World must tackle over-consumption of energy, resources, UN panel chair warns
The world is consuming too much energy and materials to sustain itself and the global community must summon the political will to tackle a whole raft of challenges, from mineral extraction to waste recycling to the more than 200 toxic chemicals entering the blood of foetuses, the head of a United Nations commission warned today. The central question is “how to achieve green and equitable growth and development for a growing...
More »Food security not by food alone
Politics runs the risk of being reduced to the art of the passable — it has to be approved by the legislature, by the omniscient television anchors, by sulking editorial writers forced to cede ground to the TV anchors, and, most crucially , by Sonia Gandhi. The food security Bill was drafted for Ms Gandhi’s favour and has been shafted by her displeasure. Food security, hostage, in any case, to...
More »UN agency worried about India’s food inflation
A UN expert body on Thursday said surge in food prices in India is a matter of concern, but retail price inflation will cool down to 7.5% this year from around 12% last year. The UN Economic Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (Escap) also projected the economy to grow by 8.3% in 2010-11, compared to estimated 7.2% last fiscal, fueled by the recovery in investment and private consumption. “In India, consumer...
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