Budget 2011-12 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. THREE decades ago, in the early years of the Special Component Plan (SCP) for Scheduled Castes – very recently renamed inappropriately as Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) – Indira Gandhi on her return as Prime Minister wrote two historical D.O. letters dated March 12, 1980, one to Central Ministers and the other to State Chief Ministers, regarding the SCP in the Central...

The Sanjha Manch, a joint forum of people’s organisations, organised a candlelight march in protest against the proposed Gorakhpur Atomic Power Project here last evening. Members of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, which is agitating against the acquisition of 1,313 acres of agriculture land for the proposed nuclear plant and activists of the Sanjha Manch began their candlelight march from Laal Batti Chowk and after passing through DSP Road, the procession reached...

Global business abhors uncertainty. The ministerial-level corruption in UPA-II has slowed FDI and FII inflows. The stock market, despite double-digit corporate profit and 8.6% GDP growth, reflects the anxiety of Indian and foreign investors. To take India's growth story forward in the 20th year of economic reforms, political reforms must catch up. Misgovernance won't do in a globalised, interconnected world. Two kinds of political corruption blight India: episodical and ongoing. Episodical...

The Gujarat assembly witnessed noisy scenes when Congress MLA from Porbandar Arjun Modhwadia alleged that it was because of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia that the Modi government gave benefits worth Rs 29,000 crore to Tata Motors when it set up the Nano plant in Sanand.During an argument on Monday over providing employment in Ahmedabad district, Modhwadia alleged that even after the government gave special favours to Ratan Tata, he has...

Congress MLAs on the first day of the state assembly's budget session disrupted governor Dr Kamla's speech on Thursday. They were protesting against the alleged failure of the state government to take action in an RTI activist's suicide case in Kutch. As the governor stood up to deliver her speech, Congress MLAs started shouting slogans against the government. The MLAs demanded justice for RTI activist Jabbardan Gadhvi, 42, who had self-immolated...