-The New York Times Blog The right to food is finally becoming a lively political issue in India. Aware of the forthcoming national elections in 2014, political parties are competing to demonstrate - or at least proclaim - their commitment to food security. In a country where endemic undernutrition has been accepted for too long as natural, this is a breakthrough of sorts. The rhetoric, however, is not always matched by understanding...

-The Business Standard TN's share of grains to drop by 32%, poll-bound states like MP, Rajasthan too get rise in grains allocation Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the two politically crucial states are among the top three states which will get maximum increase in their annual foodgrains allocation as per the newly promulgated National Food Security Ordinance (NFSO). Rajasthan is the third. According to an internal assessment made by the food ministry, which was...

-The Telegraph Agartala: Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar has criticised the Centre for promulgating the food security ordinance by evading parliamentary scrutiny and termed it a "nutrition destruction ordinance". Asserting that the provisions in the ordinance would only accentuate the rural-urban divide and destroy whatever food security people of this country now have, Sarkar said, "We had received a copy of the ordinance and conveyed our opinion to the Centre, demanding intensive...

-IANS JAIPUR: Helping to identify and then get medical facilities to children suffering from malnutrition will win health workers in Baran district of Rajasthan additional monetary benefits. The district administration of Baran, some 250 km from Jaipur, announced that it would give Rs 100 to a government health worker who helps detect a malnourished child and brings him or her to the special centres of the government meant to deal with the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Over half of India's urban residents can be called poor. The housing ministry has moved a cabinet note that has classified nearly 52 per cent of town and city dwellers as poor after a socio-economic caste census that is "99 per cent" complete. The ministry has also dropped a criterion from the list of parameters an expert committee had suggested to automatically count in and count out households from...