-NDTV A lawyer has challenged the contentious Food Security Ordinance in the Supreme Court, terming it as "illegal". The Centre's ambitious welfare programme is now a law after receiving President Pranab Mukherjee's assent on Friday; the scheme provides subsidised food to nearly 800 million or 67 per cent of the population and is being viewed as a major vote-getter in the national elections, due by May. Advocate ML Sharma today filed a...

-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...

-The Hindu The outlets in the city's immediate southern suburbs and one in Porur boast of a huge price difference of locally-available vegetables compared to those in other markets Chennai: Residents cutting across the social and economic spectrum flocked to the farm-fresh consumer outlets in the city's suburbs on Thursday, soon after their inauguration earlier in the day. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa launched 31 ‘Pannai Pasumai Nugarvor Kootturavu Kadai' through video-conferencing from the Secretariat....

-The Hindu Raipur: Launching the Congress party's ‘Parivartan Yatra' (March for Change) on Thursday in Bastar, a senior Central Minister, Jairam Ramesh, compared Mahendra Karma, the tribal leader, with a "slow tiger." "Mahendra Karma was called the ‘Bastar Tiger.' But the tiger has slowed down over the years," said the Minister in the presence of Mr. Karma and about two thousand Gond tribals. Sitting on the dais, Mr. Karma's reactions changed...

-The Hindu Jaipur: The nondescript Jasauti village in Pahari tehsil of Bharatpur district, situated at the Rajasthan-Haryana border, has emerged as the "Bhindi Gaon" (village of lady's fingers), sending over a dozen vehicles with the popular vegetable everyday for six months in a year to Gurgaon and Delhi. Eighty per cent of agriculturists in the village are engaged in the farming of lady's fingers. The transformation in both the social and...