-The Times of India It is budget time once again. Far away from the talk of lakhs and crores of rupees echoing from Parliament to television studios, a thin adivasi teenage girl stands in a queue at her hostel, her plate in her hand, waiting for her share of the gruel that she is given for lunch every day. Her family depends on the money from the minor forest produce her...
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After seven years on the run, rape convict Bitti Mohanti held in Kerala -Shaju Philip
-The Indian Express Kannur: Seven years after Bitihotra Mohanti alias Bitti jumped parole following conviction in the rape of a German national in Rajasthan, he was arrested from Kannur in Kerala on Friday night, bringing to an end one of the longest hunts for a fugitive in the country. The son of former Orissa DGP B B Mohanti, Bitti had been sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment by a fast-track court for...
More »A rough guide to India’s Food Security Bill
Introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2011, the UPA government’s Food Security Bill is finally going to be discussed in the current (Budget) Session of Parliament. The proposed legislation is now slated to see many additional amendments from the government, following criticism from the States, NGOs and diverse stake-holders working on access to food and child health. Attempt here is to summarise in a Q & A format the...
More »Budget ‘pro-rich’, say NAC members-Ruhi Tewari
-The Indian Express Even as Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s Union Budget for 2013-14 is being touted as a ‘balanced’ budget, members of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) have criticised it for not having done enough for the social sector. They feel the budget, which comes just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due next year, falls short on delivering to the less advantaged groups and is relatively...
More »From famines to food security -Zia Haq
-The Hindustan Times In 2009, when India faced its worst drought in three decades, the country managed to produce a million more tonne of foodgrains than it did in 2007, a normal year. That's both an achievement and a failure. It's not enough to grow more food - as India has been able to do - but to distribute it well, which the country hasn't accomplished. The UPA's flagship food security bill...
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