Stating that the proposed Food Security Bill is “inadequate,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said on Sunday that the Left parties will stage an agitation pressing for the inclusion of everyone, irrespective of whether they are classified as below or above the poverty line.

“Every family should be entitled to 35 kg of foodgrains at the rate of Rs. 2 per kg. Only the rich should be exempted from this privilege,” he said, adding that at least 80 per cent of the people must be covered under the public distribution system.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia and Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will lead a global panel to set international targets on sustainable development, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.

The panel will start work after a major summit next month in Rio de Janeiro. The trio admitted in a joint statement that there was still "some way to go" to eliminate global poverty.

Australia will provide A$100.5 million dollars, equivalent to Tk 8.3 billion, as official development assistance to Bangladesh for the 2012-13 fiscal year.

“Australia's aid program makes an important contribution to a global effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in particular for eradicating poverty,” said Acting High Commissioner of Australia Tim Bolotnikoff.

This is part of the Australian government's overall commitment to increase the size of the Australian aid program to A$5.2 billion from A$4.8 billion in 2011-12 fiscal year, said a press release.

The UN warns that a million children in Africa's Sahel region face malnutrition due to drought in region. In all 15 million people face food insecurity in eight nations across the Sahel, a region that is still recovering from drought and a food crisis of 2010. Un some countries the situation is worsened by conflict.