That accountability is vital in a democracy was reinforced at a National Convention of the National Campaign for the People's Right to Information held in Shillong recently… If governments do not investigate corruption, people should have the right and power to do so themselves. When the idea of a people's legal right to information took initial shape in the dusty villages of Rajasthan nearly two decades ago amidst people's struggles for...
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New Policy to Boost rice Output in Eastern States
The Centre will come up with a ‘Look East’ policy to boost kharif staple rice production in eastern states. A national-level conference scheduled to be held in New Delhi on April 6-7 will formulate strategies to maximise summer-sown crop output by hiking area and production in eastern states, which have more irrigated, alluvial soil and higher water table than those in the northwest. “The focus will be on rice and introduction...
More »Cash transfers and food insecurity by Kannan Kasturi
Distribution of basic food grains and fuel at controlled prices every month through the Public Distribution System (PDS) could be the largest service provided by the Indian State, touching as it does over 65 million families through a network of nearly half a million retail shops. Given that the urban middle class has little stake in the health of the PDS, there have to be some compelling reasons for the...
More »Record foodgrains output of 235.88 mn tonnes in 2010-11: Sharad Pawar
India's foodgrains production is estimated at a record 235.88 million tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year, ending June, on the back of the highest-ever output of wheat and pulses, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar announced today. "The third advance estimate figures are available with me, which show an all-time record production of foodgrains at 235.88 million tonnes. Wheat at 84.27 million tonnes and pulses at 17.29 million tonnes are also the highest...
More »Hundreds ill in India after eating adulterated flour
Nearly 400 people have been admitted to hospitals in north India after eating adulterated flour, police say. All the patients had consumed snacks made from buckwheat flour. A mill in the northern state of Rajasthan has been traced as the source, police said. The patients complained of vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach ache. Cases of food poisoning have been reported from the capital, Delhi, and towns of Meerut, Ghaziabad and Bulandshar in Uttar Pradesh...
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