Forty years ago Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan helped rescue the world from growing famine and a deepening gloom over the future of food supplies. Today, public policy projects itself as pro-farmer but it does it half-heartedly, complains Swaminathan. M S Swaminathan, member of the National Advisory Council and father of the Green Revolution says the government's allocation for agriculture is insignificant. Doesn't the Union Budget reflect a new focus on agriculture?...

The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested four persons from the Goaltore area of West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur district late on Sunday for their alleged involvement in the killing of nine residents of Netai village in a firing incident on January 7. These are the first arrests made by the CBI after it took over the case from the State's Criminal Investigation Department on February 22 acting on a Calcutta High Court...

JANAKI KNOWS well that it is hard for her to rear more than four children. Yet she is not willing to go to the sterilisation camp. Her husband would be of no help in taking such a decision. “He drinks heavily, beats me up every day,” she says. Janaki is not able to express her fears in clear terms, but it is difficult to imagine her summoning up the courage...

Incidence of 'vulnerable employment' is highest in South Asia, including India, with 580 million people in the region falling under the category, says the annual Global Employment Trends report of the International Labour Organisation. People in the vulnerable employment category in the region are saddled with low wages and little social protection, said the report. In fact, the whole of Asia Pacific region had a comparatively higher level of vulnerable employment...

On Mahatma Gandhi's martyrdom day citizen groups across India took out a march against Corruption. Several marches were held across several cities against corruption. People from all walks of life, of all age groups came out in the thousands to stand up against corruption. In Delhi, thousands of people walked through heart of the city from Ramlila Ground to Jantar Mantar under the banner of India Against Corruption, and raised slogan...