The National Advisory Council is still working on the amount of grain to be distributed to each family under the Food Security Act. It will hold consultations with ministries of rural development and food and the Planning Commission before it firms up its suggestions for the proposed legislation. The panel, which met on Monday, considered the economic cost of various options to meet the goal of food security. The NAC...

Major foodgrains producing states have been the worst hit by rising prices, thanks to the Centre’s decision to pay more to farmers for their produce. Although inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), has been in double digits for nearly six months, there are several states where CPI in the rural region has been around 20%. A look at state-wise consumer price index numbers shows that pre-dominantly agri-based...

A Right to Information (RTI) activist who was in the forefront in exposing corruption in PDS, foodgrain and fuel distribution in the Marathwada region has been found dead in Nanded. The circumstances behind how 43-year-old Ramdas Ghadegavkar, a local Shiv Sena leader, died is shrouded in mystery. The death of Ramdas, who used the RTI Act, adds another name in the victim list of whistleblowers in the country. The Shivajinagar police...

From retired and serving babus to journalists to even RTI activists and academicians, everyone seems to be angling for the posts of chief information commissioner (CIC) and information commissioners (ICs). In a delicious irony, all the names have come out in an RTI reply. Replying to an RTI plea filed by Mannish Bhatnagar, the department of personnel and training said 32 names were received for the posts of CIC and...

An inter-ministerial meeting on infrastructure constraints ended up discussing the coal ministry’s accusations against the environment ministry of going slow in clearing mining projects that meet green norms. At the end of the meeting, the exasperated chairman of the group, a secretary from the cabinet secretariat, suggested the environment ministry should henceforth attend the meetings on infrastructure. The ministry should be present in the next meet and listen to the complaints...