-The Hindu New data for rural households revealed by the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) represent a grim reminder of the state of rural India. In over 90 per cent of households, the main earning member makes less than Rs. 10,000 a month. Over half the households are landless and a similar share of them rely on casual manual labour for the larger part of their income. Just 20 per...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Six of the 30 MPs on the joint parliamentary committee examining the land acquisition bill appear undecided, with the BJP hoping to woo them and gain a majority on the panel. The score is now tied 12-12, which means the government needs the support of at least four of the six remaining members, who have so far kept their cards close to their chest. These half-dozen are from the...

-Tehelka The NDA government’s move to open more Jan Aushadhi stores ignores the multitude of issues currently plaguing them Amidst the jostling crowd at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Shahdara, Delhi, is 68-year-old Suresh Chandra, holding his medical files on one hand and prescription letter on the other. Chandra, who is a lung disease patient, moves towards the Jan Aushadhi store, situated in the hospital premises. Chandra hopes that the government-run medical...

-The Hindu At present, the subsidy is paid to urea producers and importers, not farmers. Consensus continues to elude the Centre on the politically sensitive reform of the urea sector, where it has accumulated an unpaid subsidy bill of Rs. 40,000 crore. Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over a meeting of senior Ministers and officials last Tuesday, which discussed if the subsidy could be provided directly to farmers through the direct benefit transfer...

-Hindustan Times The government has cleared a Rs 950-crore plan to untangle the Aadhaar-national population register jumble inherited from the UPA Government. The census commissioner, tasked with creating NPR, will conduct a nationwide door-to-door survey over the next one year to link the population database with the 12-digit unique identification number, better known as Aadhaar. Home minister Rajnath Singh approved the plan in June-end, sources said. At each stop, enumerators — who will...