By stubbornly overruling the National Advisory Council, the government risks defeating its purpose as a body that speaks for the poor and the disadvantaged. HAS the Manmohan Singh government begun to regard the National Advisory Council (NAC) as an adversary who should be undermined? Going by their exchanges on key issues such as food security, wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), and the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes...

It’s not just the fibre and vitamins; wholegrain brown rice has a compound that may protect you from high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Replacing that familiar mound of white on your plate with a brown variety may do a world of good to your heart. Nutritionists have known for a while that brown rice is healthier, and been exhorting rice eaters to choose the wholegrain brown type instead of...

Industrialist Ratan Tata, while questioning in the Supreme Court the Centre's lackadaisical attitude in allowing free Distribution and publication of his private conversations with lobbyist Niira Radia recorded by the Directorate-General of Income Tax, sought a comprehensive probe into the leakage. Senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for Mr. Tata, made this submission before a Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K.Ganguly, hearing a writ petition alleging that the publication of the...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said food price rise was a “problem” and promised to take tackle it without affecting economic growth. “Inflation in the last 18 months has become a problem. We stand committed to control inflation… By the end of this fiscal year, I hope the inflation will come down to 7 per cent,” Singh told the Lok Sabha. The latest food inflation figure has crossed 11.4 per cent...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the government is trying to introduce the proposed National Food Security Bill that seeks to provide a legal guarantee for cheaper foodgrains to the poor, in the Budget session of Parliament. "...we hope to bring to this session of Parliament the National Food Security Bill, which would give the people the right to food as the constitutional right," Singh told Rajya Sabha while replying...