August 9, 2010, Lalgarh Ramkrishna Higher Secondary School: As many as 10,000 people stand in rapt attention. Another 40,000 people are stuck on the roads leading to the venue. The speaker: Mamata Banerjee, railway minister. April 24, 2012, Lalgarh Ramkrishna Higher Secondary School: Between 2,500 and 3,000 people listen to a speech on peace and development. Some start wandering around before the 30-minute speech is wrapped up. The speaker: Mamata Banerjee, chief minister. April...

-PTI Five American trade bodies, including USIBC, have joined hands to oppose efforts of the Indian government to further restrict participation of foreign companies in India's tobacco market. According to reports, the India's Commerce Ministry, on the request of Health Ministry, has proposed to put a complete FDI ban in the sector. Currently, foreign direct investment (FDI) is completely prohibited in manufacturing of tobacco and its substitutes, while such investments are allowed up...

-Tribune News Service Notwithstanding the marginal decline in spendings under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) over the past two years, Himachal has the best performance indicators, putting it in the league of top-performing states. The total expenditure under the scheme came down from Rs 556.55 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 516.34 crore in 2010-11 and further fell to Rs 509.43 crore in the last financial year. However, the number...

Notwithstanding apprehensions expressed by rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on the proposal of giving grain as part payment of wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, food minister KV Thomas  on Sunday continued to support the idea. Thomas said, “There is enough surplus grain to be given to poor families.” In a recent letter to the Jairam Ramesh, Thomas had made the proposal, which he said would also help ease...

The National Advisory Council (NAC) wants the government to assess if its cash incentive scheme for the welfare of girls meets its objective of reducing gender selection, as there’s no official study yet to suggest that it does. As part of its recommendations for a national policy to stem India’s declining sex ratio, NAC also sought the formation of a communication and advocacy strategy and stronger laws to prevent the misuse...