The Seed Bill continues to remain stuck in controversy with state governments as well as farmer groups not happy with the current shape of the legislation that the agriculture ministry is keen to introduce in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. The issue of compensation for farmers in case of failure of seeds and regulation of seed prices has been raised by MPs as well as civil society groups. While...

The agriculture ministry has put on hold the controversial Seeds Bill, 2004, following strong objections from the MPs, mainly on the pricing and penalty clauses. Sources said while the penalty clause would be further referred to the law ministry for its opinion, the ministry would consider the suggestion of creating a national authority to decide pricing of the seeds. “Two main issues need to be discussed further — pricing of seeds and...

The Left Front government has fast-tracked the creation of a parallel school education system under the panchayat and rural development department, ignoring opposition from both within and outside the coalition. The government is pitching the bill as a tool to bring more students to schools, but has stoked fears that a system under the panchayat and rural development department — which does not have the expertise to run an education system...

10-member delegation meets Pratibha to garner support for Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha Passing of the Bill will be a “historic step” ‘Women should get 50 per cent reservation' Demanding passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, a large number of women from across the country took out a rally at Jantar Mantar here on Thursday to demand their “right”. While the rally gathered support for the Bill, a...

‘In most cases, the top brass knew what was going on' Maharashtra tops the list with four; Gujarat had two NGOs plan a rally condemning the killing With the cold-blooded murder of Right to Information (RTI) activist Amit Jethwa near the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad last Tuesday, the number of whistleblowers killed this year alone has gone up to eight. The Congress-ruled Maharashtra tops the list with four killings, followed by the...