What kept Prime Minister Manmohan Singh busy after securing minister A Raja’s resignation on the night of November 14 last year? He was writing a reply to National Advisory Council chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s letter on the practice of manual scavenging. On November 15, he wrote to her that he was asking the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment to “examine how to strengthen” implementation of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and...
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Food Bill: Government may raise general quota if output improves
-PTI The government has decided to redraft the National Food Security Bill to keep an option open for supplying more than three kilograms of subsidised foodgrains to general households in case of increased output. "We have received public comments and views of state governments on the draft Food Bill. We have decided to make some changes while finalising the bill," Food Minister K V Thomas told PTI. In cases of general households' entitlement...
More »The risks arising from Asia's water stress by Brahma Chellaney
Water, the most vital of all resources, has emerged as a key issue that would determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or competition. After all, the driest continent in the world is not Africa but Asia, where availability of freshwater is not even half the global annual average of 6,380 cubic metres per inhabitant. When the estimated reserves of rivers, lakes, and aquifers are added up, Asia has less than...
More »HRC directs Orissa to report on 'man-made' flood, civil society for flood plain management by Nageshwar Patnaik
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Orissa government asking it to submit a detailed report on the alleged "man-made" floods in the last in August-September. The disaster had officially claimed over 80 lives and damaged houses and agricultural lands in 21 districts. The NHRC's direction came following petition filed by Bhubaneswar-based India Media Centre, a voluntary organisation. Water resources secretary, chief engineer of irrigation department and Hirakud...
More »Sonia’s scheme monitors off to uneasy start by Sanjay K Jha
Sonia Gandhi’s ambitious plan to institutionalise political monitoring of the government’s flagship programmes in states has taken off in a tentative and haphazard manner. Although she has appointed a separate Congress general secretary, Vilas Muttemwar, to oversee the monitoring system and asked all state party units to set up committees to study the implementation of the schemes, little has been achieved in the past 10 months. Many state units are yet...
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