Ten state governments have decided not to wait for the end of the controversy over whether genetically modified (GM) brinjal, popularly termed Bt brinjal, should be approved or not. They have decided not to allow it in their states anyway.
Non-government activists Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze, who are widely regarded as architects of the National Rural Employment Guarantees Programme (NREGP), today boycotted its fourth anniversary celebrations at Vigyan Bhavan as a protest against the manner in which the programme had been implemented.
Green ratings were a no-no for most Indian companies till a few years earlier. But the ratings have now graduated from just being an initiative of non-government organisations to something both the government and industry would like to embrace fast.
Special Economic Zones are nothing but special exemption zones and there is no reason to exempt these from all law. Hence, scrap these, is the recommendation of the Committee on Land Reforms and Agrarian Relations set up by the Union government to advise it on issues ranging from land reforms and land acquisition to measures to stop conversion of farm lands.
The rapid conversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural uses is not the best way to food security. That is what the government-appointed panel on land reforms and agrarian relations says in its report, currently under the consideration of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The appointment of ombudsmen in each state for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP), which had already faced criticism for the weak profile of the post, is set to get more controversial.
