Inspired by the RTI Act, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is all set to bring in a new legislation aimed at making government officials "accountable to the common man". The Janhit Guarantee Bill, to be unveiled by the BSP supremo on her 55th birthday tomorrow, promises timely delivery of information and documents like birth and death certificates and revenue records to the people, an official said. It also empowers the people to...

What’s Going Wrong?     * Market intelligence remains a weak link; farm policies rarely reflect correct scenario     * Extensive damage to crop in Maharashtra not factored in promoting onion, tomato exports     * Middlemen make capital while farmers realise 10-15% margin, not enough to recoup losses     * Government market intervention capacity limited to foodgrains and pulses **** India’s worst-kept secret was finally revealed when the government threw up its hands in despair in the...

Why is the opposition to the UID scheme growing? The unique identity (UID) numbers being issued with much fanfare have no legal sanctity. This may surprise many who casually know about the UID scheme and believe it represents a progressive and transparent new India. The problem is, the Bill which proposes setting up an Authority mandated to issue such numbers was introduced in Parliament only in December 2010. This is yet to...

Farmers would be considered as skilled workers and insurance companies cannot reduce the compensation under the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act on the ground their work required no formal education, a Delhi court has said. "It (farming) is rather the skill and the knowledge of the ancestors which is handed down from one generation to another. Though each farmer of this country may not be educationally qualified as yet and it may...

Genuine fear of genetically modified (GM) crops arising from relatively less studied science combined with the fear of the unknown and lack of transparency of the companies dealing with GM crops made most governments and their citizens in Europe and other countries oppose the technology. Fearing that nanotechnology, another promising technology, may face the same fate, the U.K. Royal Society had published a detailed report on nanotechnology in 2004. The report, made...