Concerned over the low wheat procurement in Uttar Pradesh as against Punjab and Haryana, which may affect the government’s plans of launching the National Food Security Bill, the Centre has decided to crack the whip.

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council has put on hold its review of the government draft Lokpal Bill to avoid “duplication” with the joint committee now working on the anti-graft legislation.

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council will continue looking into the Lokpal Bill despite the formation of a joint-committee involving the government and civil society groups, including Anna H

The National Advisory Council hopes to finalise the draft of Communal and Sectarian Violence Bill, 2010, and bring it out for public scrutiny shortly.
Sources in the NAC said they have resolved the differences within the drafting committee and the final draft would have provisions to fix accountability of public officials at all levels and provide relief and rehabilitation of the victims in the event of a communal violence incident.

After the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, it is the turn of the `71,000 crores farm loan waiver, announced in 2008 during UPA-I, to come under the Comptroller and Auditor General of India scanner.

Food minister K.V. Thomas is likely to hold consultations with C.

Concerned over the short supply of milk against an increasing demand for the vital food item in the country, Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar will review the situation on Thursday to work out a strategy for the coming summer season, during which milk production will further dip.

Indicating a major concern within the government on the progress of the agriculture sector and the need to fight the spectre of high food prices, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee announced expenditur

Differences between the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s expert panel on the proposed National Food Security Bill (NFSB) forced the advisory body to exten

Two key members of the National Advisory Council’s drafting committee on the proposed Communal and Sectarian Violence Bill, Usha Ramanathan and Vrinda Grover have quit the advisory body following their differences over fixing the accountability of public officials in any such incident. “We have quit the drafting committee. We will come up with an alternative draft bill, put it in public domain and lobby with the government to incorporate it in the law,” said Ms Grover. Both Ms Grover and Mr