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“Agriculture as a whole is in crisis,” says the Prime Minister of India. Is this a realization of the ground realities or a preparation of the background for yet another “economic adventurism”? The question is important more so because we had put the rein of this country when we had already achieved self-sufficiency in food security at the national level and we have lost it under his rule.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have always been keen on “reforming” the world but not themselves. These have, in fact, become the instrument of the big countries, especially the United States, to control the world in the name of cooperation, good governance and development. The leaderships of the poor and developing countries fall prey to it in their bid to avoid their own domestic crises and for their own survival at the cost of their people. They, obviously, are not in a position to force “reform”

With the spiraling prices of essential commodities and rising discontent among the public, the UPA government is resorting to expediency to mollify the people's resentment. The Union government even euphemistically tried to play it down ...

How much exploitation is too much? How much profiteering is too much? How much taxation is too much? How much 'loot' should public suffer silently if it is justified by law and executive orders of the government? There are many more questions that demand answers before any hike in the prices of petroleum products.

There is an ancient adage - A ruler is a representative of God. This seems to be our Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's new mentality. If he succeeds, we would be paying charges to the government for using the gift of god, like water even if government does not supply it. To begin with he has planned to charge people for use of ground water, starting from the national capital state Delhi itself.

The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2006 has finally been implemented in India from October 26. Thanks to the politics on issues relating to women, this act saw the light of day as against Women's Bill which has been scuttled for over a decade. Our politicians want support from women without making them strong enough to fence for themselves, and they are doing it well by giving them a little of the support they actually need.

The supremacy of the Parliament to legislate is under attack, and the supremacy of the Supreme Court is questioned on the ground of usurpation of the rights of the Executive and Legislature. This situation has come, and it was bound to surface when all the three constitutional bodies have been increasingly misused by unscrupulous elements from inside and outside these institutions. The crux of the matter is that all the three are suffering degradation.

There must be a plan that can take care of all the people living in a country, and all those who may come by virtue of their birth in the meantime. It is the general principle. It must reflect in any planning of our government for any period whatsoever. However, unfortunately, this is not the approach of our government on the eve of the Eleventh Plan period (2007 - 12).

Had the mothers of our country taken enough care to breastfeed their newly born babies, over 15 per cent of 24 lakh child deaths every year could have been averted, especially if optimal breastfeeding practices were scaled up to 90 per cent, says the State of the World Breastfeeding, India Report Card - 2006.

De-notified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, who constitute nearly 10 per cent of the country's population, are living in the worst of conditions, moving from pillar to post for sheer survival. The tribes number around 500; however, they are not enumerated separately in the Census.