-The Indian Express Government is PRIoritising savings over MGNREGA and rights of the poor. Rambeti from Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, graphically described the predicament of MGNREGA workers like her in a recent press conference in Delhi. “The government repeatedly states that it will not let us die of starvation. But the truth is, it does not allow us to live either.” That is a terrible evaluation of MGNREGA — a landmark legislation enacted...

-The Indian Express India’s healthcare debate should go back to the 40-year-old declaration that accords centrality to the local medical worker. India’s healthcare crisis has evoked a policy debate with arguments being made in favour of and against the public and PRIvate sector. S.N. Mohanty (‘Fixing healthcare’, IE, November 11) summarises the arguments of both sides very well. He concludes that there is a need to “design the public health system around...

-The Hindu Senior citizens seek exception from registering biometrics in banks Chennai: Many senior citizens visiting banks for providing life certificate for pension and linking their Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts have been put to a lot of hardship. They complained that there was no common rule for banks and each of them was following whatever pattern their head offices had decided. Pensioners Herbert Clay, 69, and his wife Annie Clay, 63, had...

-Down to Earth The mission would map various schemes and monitor them real-time The Union Cabinet has finally approved the setting up of National Nutrition Mission (NNM). A total of  Rs 9,046.17 crore has been allocated for the next three years, commencing from 2017-18. The main agenda of NMM is to address the issue of malnutrition and stunted growth in India. The mission would map various schemes and monitor them real-time.  The...

-Scroll.in ‘The PRImary reason for the abysmally low conviction rate for sedition cases is that the law is misapplied,’ said senior advocate Sanjay Hegde. The Indian police registered 112 cases of sedition across the country between 2014 and 2016, but only two have led to convictions, according to a report released by the National Crime Records Bureau on Thursday and a government statement in Parliament last year. The National Crime Records Bureau’s annual...