A report by a parliamentary standing committee entrusted to examine the National Food Security Bill, 2011 has revived the debate on what measures India must take to end its abysmal track record of hunger and malnutrition, (See several links given below) despite successive years of high growth and record grain procurement. The draft legislation is likely to be debated in the upcoming session of Parliament, even as the recent Jaipur...

-The Hindu Business Line A leap backward, says Right to Food Campaign Food rights activists, including National Advisory Council member, Aruna Roy, have called upon all Members of Parliament and political parties to reject the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s recommendations on the National Food Security Bill. Tearing into the Standing Committee’s report, submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker on January 17, the Right to Food Campaign (RFC), an umbrella of civil society organisations, said...

-The United Nations Consumers, food retailers and governments can take simple actions to dramatically reduce some 1.3 million tons of food waste every year, according to a new campaign launched today by the United Nations and its partners. Launched by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and partners, the campaign – ‘Think, Eat, Save. Reduce Your Foodprint’ – seeks to accelerate action to eliminate wasteful practices...

-Economic and Political Weekly Despite many valid recommendations put forward by relevant committees as well as by independent researchers, the public Distribution system continues to suffer from several inherent and systemic fl aws. Instead of addressing the problems encountered by the present system, policymakers are again attempting to resort to another version of targeted provisioning. By assessing important implications relating to various dimensions of the proposed National Food Security Bill 2011,...

-Reuters RANCHHODPURA, India (Reuters) - Working out of a tiny rented room furnished with a wooden table, small biometric authentication machine and shelf stacked with passbooks, Ganesh Dangi is a one-man bank for a village of 650 people in northwestern Rajasthan. A business correspondent, or local representative, for State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) in Ranchhodpura village, 40 km (25 miles) east of Udaipur, Dangi is racing to sign up villagers...