-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...

-The Hindu Uttarakhand reiterates that our rulers have contemptuous disregard for the advice of the best scientists and would rather listen to contractors and builders to whom they are beholden for funds In the early 1980s, while doing research on the environmental history of Uttarakhand, I sometimes visited the library of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in Dehradun. Most of the journals in the library dealt with geology and earth sciences,...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Patients infected with the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) in the northeastern states have been unable to undergo a key test required to start anti-HIV drugs for several weeks because of delays in procurement by government agencies, patient interest groups said today. The Indian Drug Users Forum said several government HIV-treatment centres across Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura are facing a "complete stock-out" of biochemical reagents that measure levels...

-The Indian Express The I&B Ministry is planning to generate real-time data on what the 120 million TV viewing households are watching by putting a chip into the set top boxes (STB). The move comes at a time when dominant television ratings company, TAM Media Research, is facing the heat from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The move may also raise privacy concerns and invite protests from rights activists but ministry...

-The Indian Express But parties can be made to disclose their finances compulsorily We have received a number of inquiries about the CPI's position on bringing parties under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The decision of the Central Information Commission (CIC) that political parties should come under the RTI, as they receive a substantial amount of financial help from the government, has been rejected by all parties. Many eyebrows were raised...