#1. Principal of Indian School That Served Tainted Lunch Is Arrested

Gardiner Harris writes a short article about the tragedy that occurred in eastern India in the province of Bihar, where 23 children died after eating lunch poisoned with pesticide. Nine days after this incident, the principal, Meena Kumari, was arrested by the police. Forensic tests confirmed that the cooking oil used for the children's lunch was contaminated with pesticide. The only other adult available also fell ill and after Kumari fled the scene, the children were left to take care of themselves. Many attempted to crawl home and several died in the arms of their parents. School lunch programs swept across India and now feeds millions of children, combating school absence and malnutrition. However, like all government programs it is not perfect. In some areas the schools prepare food in dirty water and around rubbish. In other areas, the food is made in clean conditions under strict management. This poisoning case had a huge impact politically on Nitish Kumar, Bihar's chief minister. Kumar, long credited for the development of Bihar, has now been receiving criticism for failing to grieve the poisoned children. Kumar has not said much based on the case other than suggesting that the poisoning had been a conspiracy. He has also promised to support the families that lost a child that day.

Harris writes this article with the main purpose to inform. It is written in a neutral voice and is not opinionated. However, what Harris wants to inform is unclear. He started with the poisoned children and quite abruptly transitioned to Bihar's chief minister and the politics surrounding him. It could be argued that the main purpose of this article is to show the difficulties India has because of these three points, the poisoned children, corrupted government programs, and leaders who do not love their people. Harris does not introduce a thesis and there are few transitions between paragraphs. His word choice helps his paragraphs flow but the lack of transitions makes reading choppy and abrupt. Nonetheless, Harris has informed the public about the obstacles that India has to face.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/world/asia/principal-in-india-tainted-lunch-deaths-arrested.html?ref=world&_r=0