-Economic and Political Weekly The proposed legislation on the National Food Security Act has been steadily watered down since it was fi rst mooted in 2009. The Parliamentary Standing Committee that examined the 2011 Bill has disappointingly continued with "targeting". If the government passes the bill incorporating the committee's suggestions, a historic opportunity to combat hunger and malnutrition would be lost. Ankita Aggarwal (aggarwal.ankita87@gmail.com) is a Research Scholar at the Centre for...

-PTI In a bid to ensure free and fair elections and curb the use of money power, the Election Commission has disqualified as many as 2,171 candidates for failing to furnish details of expenditure incurred while contesting Parliamentary and Assembly polls. These candidates will face the bar for three years from the date of disqualification by the Commission, with the maximum being up to January 2016. The move is part of the poll...

-The Economic Times Food inflation in India, as measured by food articles price index, has averaged 11.3% for the period FY 2008-09 to December 2012, with a maximum of 15.6% in 2010-11 and minimum of 7.3% in 2011-12. In December 2012, wheat prices stood 23% higher than in December 2011, and rice prices 17% higher in the same period. Although this spurt in wheat and rice prices in the face of...

-Outlook A new land acquisition bill readies for budget session. How will it fare? Bill Of Blights     Defines “public purpose” too broadly, allows govt to acquire land for PPPs     Less landowner consent required for PPPs than private-only projects     The bill’s compensation norms likely to face strict challenges in the courts     States have been given R&R powers but could lead to arbitrary outcomes     Doesn’t consider govt projects where compensation, R&R are neglected *** The...

-Pratirodh.com If Year 2012 earned the sobriquet of “Year of Scams’ due to serial expose of “super social cop” Arvind Kejeriwal, and the year-end tragic death of girl in Delhi gang rape case reminded us about the most ugly manifestation of ‘Republic of Patriarchy’ in India, Year 2013 promises to be a game changer for the fortunes of welfare state in India as well as political fortunes of UPA-2.   If Narendra Modi,...