Some members of the National Advisory Council , or NAC, are of the view that a small group in the council is driving its agenda to an extreme, making its recommendations vulnerable to government's rejection on the grounds of fiscal prudence. This not only ends wasting everyone's time, but also does a disservice to the poor and disadvantaged the council seeks to help, by indefinitely delaying progressive legislation, goes the...

Legislation targets poor and vulnerable sections among whom malnutrition was particularly high Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday that the government was committed to bring to Parliament a Right to Food Act which would serve as a viable safety net for the poor and the vulnerable sections among whom malnutrition was particularly high. Addressing an international conference on ‘Leveraging Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health,' the Prime Minister said such...

The chamber said concrete steps need to be taken to promote investment, given that recent data shows the investment growth rate slowed from 38.1% in 2007-08 to 36.5% in 2009-10 The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Tuesday called for the government to provide tax incentives on agricultural activities in the forthcoming Budget to encourage private participation and adoption of new technologies in the sector. “CII has recommended encouraging private sector participation...

The Environment Ministry's clearance of projects such as Posco, Jaitapur and Lavasa will cause havoc in our gravely endangered environment. EVEN the worst pessimist could not have imagined that the January 31 order of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) approving the South Korean-origin company Posco's steel project in Orissa would be as bad as it actually is. Construction of the Rs.54,000-crore steel plant, its captive power unit and private...

Faced with the unfinished agenda - half way achievements under the Bharat Nirman mission projects like rural roads and houses and MDG goals staring in face - the government is preparing an army of 40 lakh volunteers to connect planning in New Delhi and implementation at the village level. TULIP (Total Unity for Livelihood, Innovation and Production), as 'the Bharat Nirman Volunteer' is christened would serve an anchor to spearhead programmes in...