-The Indian Express Mindful of the fiscal challenge the national food security law is likely to bring, the government proposes to give itself the option of raising the price of foodgrains three years after the law is rolled out. To ensure that the UPA’s showpiece welfare legislation is not grounded because of opposition from the states, the food ministry is set to drop the provision for setting up a National Food Commission...

-The Hindu SP, BSP unhappy with some provisions A Bill providing for tougher punishment for crimes against women, including rape, acid attack, stalking and voyeurism, was approved by the Union CABinet on Thursday, after a Group of Ministers, constituted to prescribe safeguards, completed its examination of the draft law in a record two days. On March 18, The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013, will be discussed at an all-party meeting before it goes...

-The Indian Express Differences within the CABinet over the proposed amendments to rape-related laws were resolved Wednesday when a Group of Ministers recommended that the phrase “sexual assault” be replaced with the word “rape” in all laws, age of consent for sex be retained at 16, and a provision that provides for punishment for filing false complaints be done away with. The recommendations of the GoM, headed by Finance minister P Chidambaram,...

-The Hindu A year after the United Progressive Alliance government passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, raising the age of consent for sex from 16 years to 18, the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up on Tuesday to suggest changes in the new draft law to check crimes against women has recommended reducing it to 16. Currently, Section 375 of the IPC says that one of the conditions for...

-The Times of India The Reserve Bank of India having opened the window for new bank licences, the postal department is finalizing the blueprint to set up a bank of its own at your neighbourhood post office, a move that will challenge the dominance of large public sector lenders in smaller towns and rural India. While the department already has a balance sheet of Rs 6.18 lakh crore, which includes deposits of...