-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared an ordinance to implement the politically significant national food security bill without waiting for Parliament's monsoon session that is about a month away. The decision to press ahead with the ordinance - delayed after the government sought to enlarge political support for the bill - is rooted in Congress's determination to project commitment to food security as an key aspect...

-PTI The Finance Ministry has sought financial assistance from World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) for rebuilding of damaged infrastructure in flood- ravaged Uttarakhand. "In view of the emergency situation, both ADB and the World Bank have been requested to fast track the processes of needs assessment, project preparation and approval," the Finance Ministry said in a statement. It said a joint mission of the World Bank and ADB, led...

-The Indian Express Why the proposed national minimum wage is the wrong answer to questions of unemployment and poverty The recent national labour conference - a trade union love fest with little real employer participation - demanded a national minimum wage. The trade union demand is a predictable positioning of narrow self-interest as national interest but the government's acceptance of their demand is unfair, delusional and economically stupid. Unfair, because it pampers a...

-PTI Bankura: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday asked why the UPA government was in a hurry to legislate the Food Security Bill when its continuance was in doubt, while denying that Trinamool Congress was opposed to it. "Congress is saying that they are going to pass the National Food Security Bill and the Trinamool Congress is obstructing it," Ms. Banerjee told a panchayat election meeting here in Bankura district. "You...

-The Indian Express Trendsetters & tweakers Act one Chhattisgarh already has a food security law in place. It became last December the first state to pass a food security bill, which covers several sections not under existing schemes. The Act makes food entitlement a right and depriving anyone of that an offence. If PDS grains, for instance, are being diverted, the officials involved will face penal provisions. The Act also seeks to empower women...