Friday, January 14, 2011, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 2:30 am (IST)

Govt unveils steps to check inflation
To act against hoarders and black marketeers
New Delhi, January 13
After discussions over two days, the government today announced steps to deal with rising food prices. The Prime Minister decided to set up an inter-ministerial group (IMG) under Kaushik Basu, the Chief Economic Adviser of the Finance Ministry, to review key agricultural parameters like production, rainfall trends, marketing, distribution and infrastructure.

PM’s panel rejects NAC proposal
* Says no legal cover to 75 per cent population in the food security bill
* Assures delivery of wheat at Rs 2/kg and rice at Rs 3/kg to needy households
New Delhi, January 13
The Prime Minister’s expert committee on the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) has rejected National Advisory Council’s (NAC) ambitious proposal of legally entitling 75 per cent of population to subsidised foodgrain. The panel said the suggestion given by Congress president Sonia Gandhi-headed NAC cannot be implemented in view of “current production and procurement trends of foodgrain” and “large subsidy implications”.

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McKinsey’s report on Urbanising India
In 20 yrs, Punjab to have more city dwellers
By 2030, the state’s urbanites to outnumber its rural dwellers;
TN, Gujarat, M’rashtra and Karnataka going the same way
New Delhi, January 13
Urban population in five states of India, including Punjab, is slated to outstrip the rural population by 2030, says a projection made by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) recently. Exploding the popular myth of the real India residing in its villages, the MGI has shown that already in one of these five states, namely Tamil Nadu, the urban populace is larger than the rural dwellers. The other three states in the list are Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

ISRO satellite to snoop on Maoists
Prepares control room for CRPF to track its men
New Delhi, January 13
A state-of-the-art control room with giant TV screens that will help track the offensive of security forces in Naxal strongholds with satellite imaging and GPS has been activated at the CRPF headquarters here. Official sources said the control room will enable top officers to track the movement of personnel in thick jungles and hilly terrains across states where anti-Naxal operations are on. A giant screen comprising 16 LCD screens has been put up, which at the push of a button will show the exact positioning of troops in the area.

‘Save Sukhna’ project yet to take off
Chandigarh, January 13
The Union territory has sought Rs 73.51 crore to initiate conservation of the Sukhna Lake. But partly because of its failure to furnish details of the conservation project it plans to undertake, the money is yet to be made available to it. A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was informed on Thursday that the plea for the grant had been made to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, which sent it back with the advice that the UT Administration should seek the grant from the Union Home Ministry.

Rape accused MLA arrested in UP
Lucknow, January 13
Absconding ruling BSP MLA Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi, who allegedly raped a teenaged Dalit girl, was today arrested in Banda district, police sources said. Dwivedi, who represents Naraini seat in the UP Assembly, was on the run after orders for his arrest were issued yesterday in connection with the alleged criminal assault on the 17-year-old girl.

How do cheerleaders help cricket, BCCI asked New Delhi, January 13 How do cheerleaders promote the cause of cricket? Why are players auctioned like “gladiators” in IPL system of cricket? These were some of the questions that members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance posed to top BCCI officials, including its president Shashank Manohar, secretary N Srinivasan and IPL commissioner Chirayu Amin during a hearing on financial transactions related to the conduct of IPL.