Parliament on Monday came to a standstill over the firing on protesting Aligarh farmers when anti-BSP outfits joined hands to corner the Mayawati regime over land acquisition for Yamuna Expressway. The Sunday firing saw Congress, SP, BJP and RLD block proceedings in the two Houses of Parliament as they demanded a discussion on the issue. BSP opposed the demand saying it was a state subject. While the provocation for blockade...

With the key States — haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan — yet to respond to the Centre's letter asking for their comments and suggestions on the draft Bill on honour killings, the Group of Ministers, which met on Thursday, was unable to progress beyond a decision to send the States a reminder. Emerging from the less than hour-long meeting here, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram told journalists that he hoped...

It is estimated that food grain worth Rs 60,000 crore have been left to rot. Who is responsible? This figure is highly exaggerated. According to a study by the agriculture ministry, only 0.004 percent of stored food grain are rotten. There were 11,708 tonnes of damaged and non-issuable food grain in Food Corporation of India (FCI) depots. However, the whole lot hasn’t become spoilt. This quantity has become non-issuable to...

Did the Union food minister hide facts from Parliament on the rotting grains in India? On Friday, Sharad Pawar claimed that the media reports of rotting of millions of tonnes of foodgrains are "quite exaggerated" while arguing that a master plan has been prepared to increase storage capacity. Replying to CPM member Brinda Karat during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Pawar said, "The statement which member made that millions of...

Today, the Supreme Court of India will hear arguments in what is emerging as a national disgrace: One of the world’s largest stockpiles of foodgrain going to rot and rodent because the government lacks the vision, ability and commitment to either store it properly or distribute it to the poor. Let me recap what I reported on the front-page of this paper last month: About a third of India’s grain reserves,...