-The Business Standard Turning the country's food procurement agency into an international trader will fan inflation and hunger At a time when the Global Hunger Index 2012 ranks India 65th among 79 countries, K V Thomas, minister of state for food and public distribution and consumer affairs, has revealed that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) will soon trade wheat in the futures market. Seeking clearance from the Forward Markets Commission, the...
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Serve fresh notice on RIL, Dasgupta writes to PM -Sujay Mehdudia
-The Hindu Says the whole country is waiting for a statement from Manmohan on the issue Terming the ouster of Jaipal Reddy from the Petroleum Ministry unfortunate and anguishing, Communist Party of India (CPI) Member of Parliament Gurudas Dasgupta on Thursday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to serve a fresh notice on the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and restrict the cost recovery for 2012-13 by $1.72 billion for the shortfall...
More »'Free electricity for farmers is hurting development, not helping it– including farmers themselves'-Lalit Jalan
-The Economic Times There has been a change of guard at the power ministry and Jyotiraditya Scindia, the new man in charge, has described his task as daunting. To simplify the many complexities, it's worth keeping in mind an adage that's particularly apt for rural India: Nothing is more expensive than no power. While on one hand there are thousands of villages that still remain to be electrified, on the other even...
More »Here comes the sun -T Ramakrishnan
-The Hindu Tamil Nadu’s Solar Energy Policy can go a long way in addressing the supply-demand mismatch The State’s solar initiative can draw on the strengths of its robust wind power programme Is the sun the answer to Tamil Nadu’s power crisis? With the unveiling of the Solar Energy Policy last week, Tamil Nadu joins the long list of States trying to find a way of harnessing this source of renewable energy...
More »MGNREGA badly needs overhaul-V Ramakrishnan and Mukul Asher
-The Business Standard The rural jobs scheme can boost productivity in farm and textiles sector. There is mounting evidence that Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) of 2005, under which 100 days of guaranteed wage employment a year was to be provided to target households, is failing to meet its stated objectives. The total cumulative expenditure since 2005 under the MGNREGA is officially estimated to be Rs 1,50,000 crore, and the...
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