-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 The various grants under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan don't reach all schools - and not on time, either Educational spending is soaring. At the turn of the decade, new Legislation has been enacted to make education a fundamental right. But India's elementary schoolchildren are just not learning. The country's elementary education budget has more than doubled since 2007-08, from Rs 68,853 crore to Rs 147,059 crore this fiscal, but the...

-Reuters India approved on Thursday a tougher new law to punish sex crimes, including death for repeat rape offenders, after the fatal gang rape of a student in December sparked unprecedented protests over the treatment of women in the country. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 or "anti-rape law" puts in place a slew of new provisions and tougher punishments, which include criminalising voyeurism and stalking and making acid attacks and human...

-Live Mint State govt says did not receive notice from SC before order was issued; SKS shares fall 19.63% in intra-day trade Mumbai: Andhra Pradesh, once the largest market for microlenders and home to India's lone listed such institution SKS Microfinance Ltd, said on Thursday it would challenge the Supreme Court's recent interim order allowing the company to resume operations in the southern state, driving the stock down by almost 20%...

-IANS   Parliament on Thursday passed the Anti-rape Bill which keeps the age for consensual sex at 18 years and makes voyeurism and stalking punishable offences, with the Rajya Sabha giving its nod to the Legislation. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013, approved by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, was moved in the Rajya Sabha earlier Thursday by home minister Sushilkumar Shinde. A resolution moved by Communist Party of India leader D...