-PTI HYDERABAD: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Saturday said it would seek amendments to the Food Security Bill to bring 90 per cent of the population under its ambit. "We want food security to be extended to 90 per cent of the country's population and the price of each commodity supplied under the act should not (cost) more than Rs 2 a kg," CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Easy promotions may lead to poor performance in school, a government committee has found. Class X board results have worsened across the states in the three years since the Right To Education Act stipulated compulsory promotions till Class VIII, a member of the panel told The Telegraph. The act mandates schools to conduct "continuous and comprehensive evaluation" (CCE), which means pupils' scholastic and co-scholastic skills should be assessed round...

-The Indian Express Bihar horror must focus attention on why this powerful scheme is so patchily implemented across India Even as news broke of children succumbing to the toxins in their school midday meal in Chhapra district, Bihar, political parties snatched it for their own ends. The facts of the case have been barely comprehended, parents and teachers are in shock, but the BJP was quick to blame the Nitish Kumar government...

-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 Hindu The hostility to the UPA's food security Bill from both its allies and the Opposition stems not from substantial objections to the draft law itself but from other political grouses The decision to bring an ordinance to provide food security to 67 per cent of the country's population was received with much hostility by the Opposition parties last week. The latter seemed surprised that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) could...