-The Business Standard The Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee law allows mandis to remain in the grip of a middlemen cartel, with clear links to politicians who run the governments Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has, in effect, told chief ministers of party-ruled states that if food inflation is to be controlled, as many items as possible must be got out of the purview of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act. For the time...
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'Civil society recommends rejection of Parliamentary Committee report on amendment of RTI Act'
-Association for Democratic Reforms Press Release New Delhi: The amendment made in the RTI Act by the Parliament that proposed to keep political parties outside its ambit has been approved by the Parliamentary Committee, entrusted with the task of reviewing it despite much opposition from civil society organizations and citizens. In a landmark decision on June 3, 2013, the Central Information Commission (CIC) pronounced that the political parties (INC, BJP, CPM,...
More »The inexplicable silence-Arun Mohan Sukumar
-The Hindu The Congress has steered clear of any debate on the AFSPA, leaving a politically untenable choice for the next government: repeal the Act or leave it untouched With its recent decision to extend the implementation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur by another year, the United Progressive Alliance's opportunistic posturing on the legislation has come full circle. The UPA's rendezvous with the AFSPA began months after it...
More »Rural disabled undercounted in 2011 Census? -Rema Nagarajan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Lack of awareness in rural areas regarding the enhanced definition of disability in census 2011 could have led to severe undercounting of the disabled, the bulk of whom reside in rural India. Rural areas account for almost 70% of the population of people with different kinds of disabilities. Yet the increase in the number of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the rural areas is barely...
More »CNG price up by Rs 4.50 in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal smells a rat -Somreet Bhattacharya & Neha Lalchandan-
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Two days before Delhi gets a new chief minister, compressed natural gas (CNG) rates were hiked on Thursday by a steep Rs 4.50 - the second increase in three months - giving rise to the prospect of costlier public transport for Delhiites and throwing a challenge to the incoming Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. CNG will cost Rs 50.10 per kg in Delhi and Rs 56.70...
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