-The Hindustan Times In the face of public outrage over a series of unpopular fiscal steps such as hike in diesel prices and cap on LPG, the government plans to come out with two feel-good initiatives — the food security bill and health cover for all. The UPA’s flagship National Food Security Bill would give 67% of the population (nearly 800 million people) a legal right to foodgrains at less than half the...

-The Telegraph Fifty-two thousand underprivileged children of Jamshedpur and Gamharia in adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan went without midday meal on Thursday, a cruel fallout of the Bharat Bandh that forced Jharkhand to stay indoors on Thursday. The success of the bandh meant that either government or aided schools eligible for midday meals stayed shut or BJP workers and other protesters on the road stopped drivers from ferrying food to cradles from the centralised kitchen...

-PTI LUCKNOW: In a bid to improve its image, which was marred by the multi-crore NRHM scam, the Uttar Pradesh health department is set to launch a health guarantee scheme for children in the age group of 2-16 years. "The planning to launch the scheme is at final stages and we will be launching it soon. SP government is committed for the cause of poor and I am ensuring that all the...

-PTI LUCKNOW: In a bid to improve its image, which was marred by the multi-crore NRHM scam, the Uttar Pradesh health department is set to launch a health guarantee scheme for children in the age group of 2-16 years. "The planning to launch the scheme is at final stages and we will be launching it soon. SP government is committed for the cause of poor and I am ensuring that all the...

-Economic and Political Weekly  The Government of India is considering a proposal to notify farming as an essential service. This is ostensibly to bring drought relief to farmers suffering from a weak monsoon - a laudable goal indeed. However, if farming is deemed an "essential service", farmers and farm workers could lose many of their political and civic rights because the government can then invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act to...