-NDTV The debate on the merits and demerits of the National Food Security Bill went on for months. But most of it seems disconnected to the reality on the ground to the churning lakhs of low income families are experiencing as they register for the new scheme. There is anxiety and desperation to get subsidised foodgrain. In the office of the Food and Supply Officer in Delhi's north east district, many have...

-The Telegraph New Delhi/Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar today landed in the national capital with a demand of a relief package of Rs 12,000 crore from the Centre. A day after declaring 33 of Bihar's 38 districts as drought-hit, Nitish, who met finance minister P. Chidambaram and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, said the state's agrarian economy was totally paralysed because of the acute rainfall deficiency during the kharif season. Nitish requested Chidambaram to...

-The Telegraph Patna: Bihar's honeymoon with double digit growth appears to be headed for a rocky phase with the government today declaring 33 of the state's 38 districts as drought-hit. The agriculture and allied sectors, which contribute around one-fifth (18.91 per cent) of Bihar's gross state domestic product (GSDP), are staring at a lower growth rate for the second consecutive year. The overall growth rate of the state was a little...

-Frontline The government pushes through the Land AcquiSITion Bill, but critics say it will take away more than what it purports to give. CLOSE on the heels of the passing of the National Food Security Bill, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government pushed through its other game-changer initiative, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land AcquiSITion, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2013, or LARR Bill, ostensibly to address the injustices...

-Kafila.org This fact-finding exercise was coordinated by the CENTRE FOR POLICY ANALYSIS. Team members were the human rights activist and former civil servant Harsh Mander; former Director-General of the Border Security Force, E N Rammohan; Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy of Jawaharlal Nehru UniverSITy; National Integration Council member John Dayal; senior journalist Sukumar Muralidharan and CPA Director and senior editor Seema Mustafa. Introduction and Overview The first impression of the Muzaffarnagar countryside, now green...