Thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas near the Yamuna river in the Indian capital, Delhi. The city is battling renewed flood fears as water levels in the Yamuna have crossed the danger mark. Incessant rainfall and release of water from the Hathnikund barrage upstream in Haryana state have raised the level of the river, officials say. In late August too, the river touched the danger mark after days of heavy...

In pushing for a greatly truncated PDS, the Food Security Bill proposed by the NAC, which has many right-to-food activists, undermines the PDS itself. ENSURING food security was the big promise of United Progressive Alliance-2. The promise to enact legislation to ensure a minimum quantity of affordable food to all poor households in the country was part of the election manifesto of the Congress party that leads the government. The 100-day...

Maharashtra ended famine forever by passing an Act that deleted the word ‘famine' from all laws of the State. Maybe the government, the National Advisory Council and other assorted enthusiasts of the Food Security Bill can learn from Maharashtra about moving towards ending hunger altogether. In 1963, the government of Maharashtra ended famine forever in the State. It did this without adding a morsel to anyone's diet. It did so simply by...

A court here Monday awarded life imprisonment to seven people for the 2002 lynching of five Dalits in this Haryana district. All the convicts were produced in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge A.K. Jain, amidst heavy security. After the sentencing, the accused were sent to Rohtak jail. The court acquitted 19 people in the case Saturday. Those convicted are: Om Prakash Kablana (head of Gaushala village), Shishu Pal Malik, Ranbir...

How fresh and healthy are the vegetables that you consume daily? Not much, according to the Union health ministry. In a bid to make them look garden fresh and ensure that they grow faster to reach markets, farmers are using chemicals at random that threaten to cause serious health hazards to consumers. Expressing concern, minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi has said, "Eating vegetables -- a must for good...