Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday approved the final draft food security bill. The bill, when passed, will provide cheaper foodgrain to 75% of the population, or 900 million Indians. This is much higher than what a PM-appointed panel recommended, but is lower than the 90% coverage sought by the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC). To cover 90% of the population under a food law, the Centre will have to...

-Express News Service   Having resisted the export of foodgrain since taking charge in January, Food Minister K V Thomas on Wednesday said that he was not opposed to export of “some quantity of wheat and rice” as there is bumper production in the country. Thomas’s statement holds significance as he has been publicly speaking against foodgrain export, citing the proposed food security law. “Our department is not negative to the idea of...

The proposed Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), a flagship anti-discrimination panel promised by the Congress in its manifesto, is back on track after being stuck in an inter-ministerial turf war. A draft Equal Opportunities Commission Bill, prepared by the minority affairs ministry and cleared by the law ministry, gives the EOC mandate to address discrimination, not just against minorities but other disadvantaged groups, if required. Moreover, the private sector will come under...

-The Indian Express   The self-appointed representatives of civil society would like to remind us that the trouble with our politics is that you have absolutely no idea what sort of person might wind up being on top. Horrific and untidy, isn’t it? “Suppose tomorrow, a corrupt person like Madhu Koda or A. Raja or any of the Reddy Brothers became prime minister,” is a worry that runs through a letter...

Sonia Gandhi has told the Congress it is the party’s duty to ensure that all welfare schemes introduced by the government are “fully implemented” on the ground. In a letter published in the latest issue of party mouthpiece Congress Sandesh, Sonia wrote: “The UPA has worked hard to fulfil the strong mandate to govern it received from the people in 2009. Since then, the synergy between the government and the party...