-Frontline The Central government's proposal to hand over the supply of supplementary nutrition to NGOs in the name of "community participation" is surely an invitation for private profiteering on the back of this supposedly public scheme. ENSURING safe and healthy conditions for the reproduction of the population is obviously the most fundamental requirement of any society. So the progress of a society can be determined (and indeed is routinely judged) by the...

-The Indian Express Institutionalising a mandatory process of consultation and dialogue would democratise not just law-making, but the state itself The formal institutions of India's parliamentary democracy have provided little space for Citizens' participation in the making of laws. This has not, however, prevented Citizens and Citizens' groups from making significant attempts to watch, critique and contribute to the process. In fact, in recent years, it is clear that the lack of...

-Outlook Patna: BJP today asked the Centre to remove "inadequacies" in the ambitious Food bill by increasing its coverage area and fixing all foodgrains at a flat Rs 1 a kg and suggested that it should be modelled after Chhattisgarh food legislation. "The UPA government should remove inadequacies in the Food Bill by extending the benefit to larger section of population," BJP national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters. Hailing the success...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The UPA is strenuously denying that this campaign is its earthy version of the NDA's "India Shining" campaign, but few are buying the denials. Launched as a "multi-media" campaign to highlight its achievements in two successive terms at the Center, it has been christened by political observers are UPA's " Bharat Smiling" campaign. The spirit of the campaign, says the publicity material given out by the...

-The Business Standard Bodies established under the Constitution fall under RTI and hence do co-operatives, but more clarity is needed Bangalore: The recent news about co-operatives coming under the Right To Information (RTI) Act saw many excited activist and individuals. Till now, Maharashtra is the only state to have ratified the 97th Constitutional Amendment that came about in March 2012. Orissa is learnt to have notified the amendment while Gujarat has rejected...