-The Deccan Herald   Eight-year-old Divya says she wants to study but her school does not provide basic facilities such as books, clean water, Food and furniture.  “There are insects crawling on our Food and the water smells like dead rat. Most of the desks in our school are broken. How can we study in a school which is not clean?” asked Divya, studying in Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Shakarpur, east Delhi. Divya added...

India is likely to see record foodgrain production in the current year on good rains, the second advance estimate of the agriculture ministry showed on Friday. Output of total foodgrains comprising rice, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses was seen at 250.42 million tonnes (mt) in the July-June crop year of 2011-12, up 2.3% from the year-ago 244.78 mt, the data showed. This is significant as the optimistic projection comes just ahead of...

The battle to provide Food security took an interesting turn after the apex court vested itself with a supervisory role in the ongoing computerization of the public distribution system (PDS), currently behind schedule. Accordingly, it directed the topmost bureaucrat in the Food ministry—Food secretary Bhushan Chander Gupta—to not only monitor the PDS computerization, but also submit monthly updates to the Supreme Court. The court was hearing the long-standing public interest case on...

-The Financial Express   The government today announced discontinuing releasing weekly primary and Food inflation data based on the Wholesale Price Index. "Weekly WPI is discontinued henceforth," the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which releases the inflation data, said. The government, however, will continue releasing the monthly headline or overall inflation data, which also contains the break-up for all segments including food, non-food, fuel and manufactured items. The headline inflation figures for January are scheduled...

-The Times of India How much you can splurge on the buffet, trousseau and finery at a family wedding may depend on how much you earn. A high-powered government panel has recommended income-linked cap on marriage expenditure, including gifts and Food served.  The recommendation by the Planning Commission's Working Group on Women's Agency and Empowerment is part of the effort to tighten the provisions of Dowry Prohibition Act, 28 years after its...