-Live Mint In an interview, India’s food minister says the Bill is about making the Right to Food a legal entitlement Prospects for the National Food Security (NFS) Bill—United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s dream legislation—haven’t looked better. Food minister K.V. Thomas, in charge of fine-tuning the contours of the Bill, is confident of steering it through Parliament during the budget session. In an interview, Thomas said the Bill isn’t merely...

-IANS Banking services were paralysed, coal production came to a halt, and transportation was hit in Andhra Pradesh by the two-day nation-wide strike called by major trade unions, which began Wednesday. Bank services in Hyderabad and the rest of the state were totally paralysed as over 70,000 employees of public sector banks joined the strike. Coal production came to a halt in the mines of the state-owned Singareni Collieries, with 65,000 workers in...

-The Times of India Every few days, Rajkumar Sharma, manager of a group housing society in Noida, makes the mandatory trip to the nearby petrol pump to pick up his quota of diesel. A few days back, even as he was on his 'diesel duty' as he calls it, he was making some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations. "Our average monthly consumption is around 400 litres which means a monthly expenditure of around...

-Frontine Walmart’s disclosure that it spent huge amounts of money on lobbying in India and the allegation that it entered the retail sector through indirect means highlight the power of global capital in dictating the country’s policies. The world’s largest multi-brand retailer Walmart’s disclosure to the United States Senate that it had spent $25 million (Rs.135 crore) since 2008 on its various lobbying activities, which include enhancing access to the Indian...

-The Economic Times The government plans to introduce direct cash transfer for food subsidy in six Union Territories and 'willing states' for PDS scheme, taking a key step to plug leakages in welfare schemes. In the pilot project, expected to be rolled out from April, beneficiaries will receive the subsidy amount in their bank accounts, and will buy rice and wheat from the fair price shops. The fair price shops will sell...