As it is drafted, the Bill actually deprives people, and the State governments, of existing rights on multiple counts. The Food Security Bill finalised by a Group of Ministers should not be accepted by Parliament in its present form. The overriding negative features of the proposed legislation far outweigh its positive initiatives. The framework itself is questionable since the Central government usurps all powers to decide the numbers, criteria and schemes...

Kalinganagar/Gobindpur: Tata Steel and Posco conceived their high-profile projects in Orissa at around the same time— 2004-05. Both faced similar opposition from land owners and saw long delays in meeting schedules. Tata Steel’s plant is under way with a commissioning deadline of October 2013, while Posco is still stuck at the land-acquisition stage. Nobody really knows when construction will start. In the land-acquisition process—the biggest stumbling block for most new plants—Tata Steel...

LUCKNOW: In Uttar Pradesh, over Rs 3,700 crore of central health funds may have been systematically looted over the past six years. Many people, including Rahul Gandhi, had spoken of the NRHM bungle, but the size of the scam indicates that not only were officials at the level of CMO and above involved, but also this could not have been carried out without the knowledge and support of their masters....

BangaloreThe fate of South Korean steelmaker Posco's proposed plant in Karnataka remains uncertain with two groups of farmers holding different views on the project. The government has already assured protesting farmers that the project would not come up in Gadag district. However, it is also waiting to see if the issue can be resolved as a separate group of farmers is offering land for the plant. Karnataka industries minister Murugesh Nirani, who will meet...

In Uttar Pradesh's most impoverished region, Bundelkhand, government officials feed off not just the living but also the dead. Headlines Today has exposed how corrupt officials exploit the grieving families of farmers, who have committed suicide.   In a visit to Bundelkhand in 2008, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi repeated a phrase borrowed from his father Rajiv Gandhi: "Out of 100 paise, only 15 paise reaches the poor".   While travelling through this dustbowl...