-Right to Food Campaign   Chhattisgarh upstaged the Centre yesterday by enacting the Chhattisgarh Food Security Act (CFSA), an improved version of the "national food security bill" that has been languishing in Parliament for more than a year. Under the CFSA, about 90% of the population of Chhattisgarh will have PDS entitlements, mostly under the Priority and Antyodaya categories, entitled to 35 kgs of foodgrains per month at a token price...

-The Hindu ‘Governments must protect interest of producer, consumer’ The controversy regarding India’s permission to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and growing “land grab” in Africa by multinational corporations are being closely watched globally by agriculture experts, researchers and donors. At a workshop here on ‘Supporting Policy Research to Inform Agricultural Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia’ — which a few journalists from both regions were invited to attend —...

-The Indian Express Under fire for her suggestion that a family of five could purchase a month’s ration of rice, wheat and Pulses for Rs 600, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday claimed that her statement had been taken out of context. With the BJP cashing in on the criticism against Dikshit’s statement, the Chief Minister held her ground claiming that the critics had “failed to understand” the Delhi government scheme she...

-The Hindu The retail vegetable sellers have now started quoting the prices of almost all items in pao or 250 grammes. The concept of darjan or dozen has almost been replaced by the kilogramme for the humblest of fruits like bananas and oranges. But this means little to the common household which now literally thinks twice before buying any grocery item. A common refrain heard often from politicians is that prices are...

-Outlook       After Odisha and Tripura, West Bengal has opposed the Centre's direct cash transfer to bank accounts of beneficiaries claiming it would lead to breakdown of the existing public distribution system and closure of the Food Corporation of India. "The basic objective of the public distribution system to arrest hunger among the poor will be defeated if the beneficiaries are provided cash instead of cheap food leading to closure of the...