It began as an expose: the story of how Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s relatives allegedly received illegal mining contracts in Madhya Pradesh. Then, a tale of arm-twisting: government officials forced cable operators to pull out the news channel, Etv MP, that aired the story. Now, the story has a twist: Allegations of a failed “paid-news” deal. Officials claim that the channel carried the report—which Singh claims is baseless—after the government...

The proposed food security Bill may cost Rs 2 lakh crore annually for the Government. The Cabinet is expected to reconsider this Bill on Monday. The Government aims to introduce this Bill in the ongoing session of Parliament. Earlier the annual cost was estimated at Rs 1-1.5 lakh crore, but a latest calculation by the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) could show a higher outgo. The Finance Ministry allocated...

-CNN-IBN   The Union Cabinet on Sunday cleared Food Security Bill. The bill will now be tabled in Parliament. Earlier, around 30 activists staged a protest outside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence in New Delhi on Sunday evening demanding immediate passage of Right to Food Bill. A senior police official said the activists were detained and taken to police station. The meeting was originally scheduled for Monday but advanced to Sunday evening, sources said. The...

Expressing concern over the agrarian crisis leading to farmers' suicides in the country, Rajya Sabha members on Thursday sought a special seven-day session to discuss the issue in depth. Initiating a short-duration discussion on the agrarian crisis, BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu sought the special session to discuss the situation and find solutions. Mr. Naidu said that while the economy was growing at 7-8 percent, the farm growth was only around...

The Union rural development ministry has decided to ape Planning Commission's discussion with states for annual finances to send a stronger message about Centre's authorship on welfare schemes, a move aimed at addressing the longstanding gripe of Congress that states were cornering all the credit. The ministry has asked states to prepare for "annual plan discussion for RD schemes" from 2012, a consultation to finalise their Budget for each scheme...