-Outlook New Delhi: Over five lakh families in Delhi will be provided food grains initially under the ambitious food security programme which will be launched here on August 20, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who has already announced that Delhi will be the first city to roll out the scheme, today held lengthy meeting with top brass of her government to finalise modalities to...

-First Post Sonia Gandhi wants the chief ministers of fourteen states in which the Congress party is in power to role out the food security scheme in letter and spirit, and in quick time. Some media reports suggest that the scheme will be rolled out on August 20, which also happens to be the birth anniversary of Sonia's late husband Rajiv Gandhi. While there seems to be a great hurry to launch...

-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...

-The Hindu Department has received 19,000 applications for new cards Kolar (Karnataka): Kolar district has 3,30,990 families eligible for ration cards but the number of ration cards issued in the district stands at 3,58,284 - a clear pointer to the large number of bogus cards under the Public Distribution System. This came to light at a review meeting chaired by Minister of State for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Dinesh Gundu Rao...

-The Business Standard The right to food is finally becoming a lively political issue in India. Aware of the forthcoming general elections, 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 food security Bill is a modest initiative. It consolidates various food-related programmes and...