A report by a parliamentary standing committee entrusted to examine the National Food Security Bill, 2011 has revived the debate on what measures India must take to end its abysmal track record of hunger and malnutrition, (See several links given below) despite successive years of high growth and record grain procurement. The draft legislation is likely to be debated in the upcoming session of Parliament, even as the recent Jaipur...

-PTI Four vagabond children, who were victims of trafficking, drug abuse and shocking sexual exploitation and violence, narrated their tales to J S Verma committee alleging that police personnel used to extort money and even indulge in sexual exploitation of women. The committee has annexed their interview in the report in which the children, whose names have been withheld, claimed that they saw police personnel of a Police Control Room van taking...

-The Hindu Panel for declaring western districts as ‘child right violation zone’ A public hearing on child rights violations in western districts here has identified caste-based discrimination in classrooms as a major reason for rise in the number of school dropouts in six western districts of the State, especially Salem. Dropout among girls, it is found out, has led to the high rate of child marriages. A shocking 13 per cent of children,...

-Tehelka Edited Excerpts From An Interview NOTED ECONOMIST and Columbia University Professor Jagdish Bhagwati’s pro-free trade stance is well-known. A friend of the prime minister and his batch mate from Cambridge University, Professor Bhagwati feels the UPA’s departure from the stagnation of the past few years is a welcome change, and lauds the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail. In an interview to TEHELKA Business Editor Shaili Chopra, Bhagwati says more...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: Right to free and compulsory education (RTE) has failed to ensure cent-percent enrolment of children in schools In UP. Of the 28 states, UP has the unique distinction of having the maximum out of school children aged between 6-14 years, including dropouts as well as children who have never attended school. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) findings, published by NGO Pratham, brings to light that...