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The scenes seem apocalyptic. Darkened skies and torrential rains lashing across the north of India, especially in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, have brought in their wake death and destruction.

The monsoon alone cannot be blamed for the Uttarakhand disaster, writes KumKum Dasgupta.

The race for the next foreign secretary’s post is very much open. While the frontrunner is Sujatha Singh, India’s ambassador to Germany, S Jaishankar, India’s envoy to China, is also very much in the running.

Contrary to speculations after his shift from principal secretary to advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, TKA Nair still plays a key role in the PMO.

The election to the two Rajya Sabha seats from Assam has put the Congress high command in a fix. The party has fielded Manmohan Singh and Santiuse Kujur, a tribal and a newcomer for the poll while Badruddin Ajmal’s United Democratic Front has also put up a candidate necessitating voting.

Sitaram Yechury in his article Nothing on their plates (Left Hand Drive, June 18) rightly states that an effective and transparent implementation of the public distribution system (PDS) could be an alternative to the much-awaited National Food Security Bill.

With reference to the report Food Bill may head back to House (June 14), the food security Bill is an election gimmick by the UPA. Theoretically, it is a sound proposal, but with the Bill the motivation to earn a livelihood is dampened.

India's insurance industry has seen several changes during the last one decade. However, it is the role of a leader is to steer the company through such critical times, says Antony Jacob in an interview to Mahua Venkatesh.

Food minister KV Thomas is steering the landmark food security bill, the UPA government’s most ambitious social welfare measure so far. In an interview to Hindustan Times' Varghese K George, Thomas explains what the law promises and how soon it could be a reality.