-The Hindu   Chief of the Army Staff General V.K. Singh on Thursday refused to be publicly drawn into the debate over withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from some areas of Jammu and Kashmir, stating the Army gave its views and the issue fell under the Union Home Ministry. With Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stating that the Act could be withdrawn from some districts of the State, including Srinagar,...

CNN-IBN   In a shocking development, a total of 12 infants have died at the B C Roy Children's hospital in Kolkata. All the infants died in the hospital in the past 48 hours. Hospital superintendent Dilip Roy said that delayed admission of the babies, who were already in a very critical condition, led to the deaths. "We are always trying to improve service and treatment but some deaths are taking place since the babies...

Biraj Patnaik, principal adviser to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, is up in arms against the National Food Security Bill. “Despite multiple meetings and many suggestions put forward, what we have is a mockery of a bill. The government has made a dog’s breakfast out of the right to food bill,” he exclaims. Patnaik’s is not a one-off complaint. Some argue that the country’s law-making process is...

-The United Nations   The United Nations independent expert on the right to food cautioned today that smallholder farmers face the risk of exploitation under contract farming arrangements with processing or marketing companies, and recommended mechanisms that could ensure that such agreements are fairer. “Contract farming for its benefits, which I am not denying, nevertheless locks farmers into one segment of the food chain,” said Olivier De Schutter, the Special Rapporteur on the...

The UPA is pressing ahead with the National Food Security Bill for the Cabinet despite agriculture minister Sharad Pawar's public criticism of UPA's flagship programme. The first draft, which was put up for public consultation including Inputs from state governments, is being revised to reflect the political priorities of the Congress. Even as the government gives final shape to the bill it will take to the Cabinet, the debate within the government...