Food Ministry wants to limit grain procurement to the needs of PDS

More than 6.6 million tonnes of wheat meant for the public distribution system, is lying in the open, running the risk of damage from rain, Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas admitted here on Thursday. Faced with a problem of plenty, the Food Ministry wants to limit grain procurement to the needs of the public distribution system. It also wants Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to include construction of medium-capacity godowns in the national rural employment guarantee scheme to augment the grains storage capacity.

Now, consumers can make ‘informed choice’ on buying packaged food products

Consumers in India can now make “informed choice” on whether they want to buy packaged food products that are genetically modified or contain genetically modified ingredients. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, in an extraordinary gazette notification, has made an amendment to make labelling of every package containing genetically modified food mandatory from January 1, 2013.

Revised draft water policy allows for subsidy to the poor and in non-commercial farming

Public outcry against indiscriminate pricing of water and privatisation of water delivery services has forced the Centre to back off on both counts in its revised draft of the new national water policy, a copy of which is available with The Hindu . The revised draft, that incorporates suggestions from the public as well as state governments, allows for subsidy to the poor and in non-commercial farming. The Hindu was the first to report the draft policy.

In a bid to push water sector reforms, the Centre has decided to incentivise States that fast-track water sector reforms with liberalised funding criteria. The plan is to “grade” States as per the reforms process adopted by them. States that speed up reforms will get increased financial assistance from the Centre for water projects.

In a major shift in policy, the Centre now plans to confine food entitlement only to below poverty Line (BPL) households and completely exclude the existing category of the above poverty line families.

This is one of the significant changes proposed in the National Food Security Bill which is currently being considered by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

An attempt was made on Monday in a meeting of the official-level Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CRM) “to narrow down the differences” between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the sharing of Cauvery waters under the Cauvery Disputes Tribunal Award.

Well- placed sources in the Union Ministry of Water Resources said the details of what transpired in the meeting will be sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who chairs the political-level Cauvery River Authority. Based on the Ministry's report the Prime Minister is expected to take a call on convening a meeting of the Cauvery River Authority.

In a major step forward to augment capacity for storing foodgrains for the public distribution system, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has notified 10 sites in as many States for construction o

In an unusual reference to farmers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his inaugural speech at the India Water Week on Tuesday, said: “Groundwater sources of drinking water often fail due to competition over the same aquifer between public drinking water systems and private irrigation.”

“Private irrigation” is a new term coined by the government as it is moving towards bringing strict laws to price irrigation water as well as control ground water.

Grappling with the Supreme Court order to set up a special committee for implementation of the rivers inter-linking project, the Water Resources Ministry is consulting the Law Ministry on seeking a review of the order.

The Ministry, it is reliably learnt, is seeking opinion for review of the mammoth committee that has to be set up under the directions of the court. Not only does it want the numbers pruned but also keep non-official members out so that the secrecy of the decisions can be maintained.

Protests marked the 10th anniversary of the introduction of genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton in the country. Angry farmers urged parliamentarians to hold a special session to discuss the issue and ban the technology.

Charging a few seed companies, particularly Monsanto, with monopolising the seed industry and setting the agenda for the government, social activists urged policy-makers and farmers to reject the hype around Bt cotton and demanded a comprehensive review.