The draft Food Security Bill makes it compulsory for state governments to pay a food security allowance to targeted sections in case of failure to supply foodgrain through a sweeping welfare scheme targeted at nearly three-fourths of the population. The amount will be decided by the central government. The draft bill also presses for a radical overhaul of the food distribution system by giving incentives to independent agencies that procure...

-PTI   The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition seeking a CBI enquiry into the alleged excesses and violence unleashed by the Uttar Pradesh government on farmers protesting against "forcible" acquisition of land at Bhatta Parsaul. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and C K Prasad asked the petitioner to approach the Allahabad High Court since it had already taken cognisance and was dealing with the issue. Senior...

-The Hindu   Rajasthan's tribal district of Banswara chosen for new initiative It was in 1959 that Jawaharlal Nehru launched Panchayati Raj in Rajasthan's Nagaur district NRLM will organise, mobilise poor families in groups, impart training for starting enterprises United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi will launch the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in Rajasthan's tribal district of Banswara on June 3. After the launch of Panchayati Raj in the State's predominantly-rural Nagaur district by...

The commission plans to file several cases under the SC & ST Act The battle of Bhatta-Parsaul in Uttar Pradesh's Greater NOIDA area, where violence raged recently over the contentious issue of land acquisition, promises to get bigger. On Thursday, the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes decided to summon the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police of Gautam Budh Nagar district, where the twin villages are located, to seek a...

-DNA   The Pune district administration will issue notices to Lavasa Corporation Limited and others after 10 adivasi farmers on Tuesday staked their claim to get back their land which had been transferred to the Lavasa hill city project. The Maval sub divisional officer (SDO), Sanjay Patil, held a hearing attended by the 10 farmers. Spread over 100 sq km, the Lavasa project is 65km from Pune in the seven hills in...