-The Times of India Direct transfer of benefits in cash to targeted beneficiaries of food and fertilizer subsidies could save an estimated Rs 60,000 cr and help trim the fiscal deficit which, in turn, may calm stubbornly high food inflation, a study by a government wing has shown. The study showed that policies to rein in food inflation would require winding down of the fiscal deficit, which has gone above 8% of...

-The Hindu   When the Supreme Court has recognised the right to go on hunger strike, why is Irom Sharmila's protest against impunity of the armed forces a criminal act? Over the past 12 years, Irom Sharmila Chanu has carried on an inconceivable hunger strike, which has seen her body wither and her skin turn pale. During this period, she has emerged as the face of the civilian resistance to the immunity, and...

-The Hindu   ‘They cannot charge for tuitions but only for extra facilities' Bangalore: A 37-year-old taxi driver, Manjunath Gowda (name changed), had brought a chocolate cake for his family after his six-year-old daughter secured a seat in a sought-after private school in Uttarahalli under a provision of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009, which guarantees 25 per cent of the seats in private unaided schools to...

-Live Mint Poor children up to the age of six years to get free meals, Bill emphasizes reforms in public distribution system The revised food security Bill, which is expected to be tabled on Friday in the Lok Sabha, has provisions to make state governments pay allowances to beneficiaries in case they fail to provide the foodgrain promised under the proposed legislation, and extends maternity benefits to every pregnant woman and lactating...

-The Business Standard Sale price of Rs 3 per kg for rice, Rs 2 for wheat and Re 1 for coarse cereals will be revised every three years The National Food Security Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament today, after being cleared by the Cabinet earlier this week. The Bill has said that it will be responsibility of the central government to provide assistance to the states in meeting the expenditure...