New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday intervened and cleared a key amendment to the Food Security Bill to protect the present grain allocation of states even as senior cabinet ministers expressed reservations on the move, sources said.
According to the sources, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde expressed their reservations at the amendment, which involves an additional burden of `5,000 crore to the exchequer. But Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Food Minister K V Thomas pitched for it, arguing it was necessary for the passage of the food security bill, stuck up in the Lok Sabha.
Finally, the prime minister gave his nod to the amendment, after the issue was debated for around 45 minutes in the cabinet meeting, said the sources.
Lightning kills
six in Bihar
Patna: At least six people, including five women, were killed yesterday in Bihar’s Aurangabad district after being struck by lightning, an official said.
“They have been killed by bolts of lightning when working in a paddy plantation in a village under Mali police station,” said an official of the state disaster management department. Five more people were killed in different places across Bihar in the last three days. Lightning strikes during the monsoon season are common in Bihar.
147 Maruti workers to stand murder trial
Gurgaon: A Gurgaon court yesterday framed murder charges against 147 jailed Maruti workers allegedly involved in the July 18, 2012 violence at Manesar car plant that left a company executive dead and left 100 injured, said a lawyer. All the accused would be tried for murder. The next proceeding in the case is scheduled for Sept 9. IANS
