Terming paid news phenomenon as acomplex problem, the Election Commission today said it couldbest be addressed by "self-regulation" by Media and politicalparties which was not happening. The EC is concerned about the undue influence that paidnews can create in the mind of the voter whose right tocorrect and unbiased information needed protection, ChiefElection Commissioner S Y Quraishi said. "In our estimate, the problem of paid news is bestaddressed by self-regulation by Media...

Driven by trade interest, EU is pushing Endosulfan for POP listing Elimination of Endosulfan is expected to severely impact pollination and India’s farming India is today the second largest producer of horticulture crops (fruits at vegetables) and annually produces over 215 million mt (2008-09 figures source Ministry of Agriculture). This is almost as much as India’s total food grain production of 235 million mt (2008-09 figures source Ministry. of Agriculture). India’s export...

Everyone agrees that there is a food crisis. As ordinary members of the public we know there’s one every time we go out shopping for vegetables. My mother knows there’s a crisis because, after recently sacking her cook, she discovered the lady had left with all the onions in the house. The Media agrees there’s one, and sends more TV crews to talk to onion farmers, even though the TV reporters...

If you thought that globalization and privatization would reduce the glamour and clamour for government jobs, you couldn't be more wrong. The first-ever state-backed study on aspirations and expectations of youth in Karnataka suggest that at least 60% of 14-34 year-olds -- irrespective of their education, economic status and place of study - prefer a government job. Fuelling their aspiration for a government gaddi seems to be job security, which is...

The Election Commission has started a sample survey in five poll-bound states to get an idea of voter attitudes and clear misconceptions to ensure greater turnout at booths. The exercise, being conducted by state chief electoral officers, will be completed within the next three or four weeks before elections are notified in Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Commission official Akshay Rout said a similar survey had been conducted in the...