-The Telegraph New Delhi: Manmohan Singh, once nicknamed Maunmohan by Narendra Modi, has delivered the most comprehensive and stringent critique yet of the Prime Minister and his governance, declaring failure with "both the head and the heart". Citing statistics but taking care to throw in personal elements and a historical perspective in the run-up to the demonetisation anniversary, the former Prime Minister strafed his successor from multiple flanks. But the economist kept the...

-The New Indian Express NEW DELHI: Amid controversial reports of hunger deaths in Jharkhand due to PDS beneficiaries being turned away, economist Jean Dreze says that even official records show that a significant proportion of people are being deprived of food rations every month. In an interview with New Sunday Express, the prime mover behind the NREGA welfare scheme said “this does not mean that Aadhaar is solely responsible for the failures...

-The Indian Express Exclusion and denial of benefits to the poor needs urgent attention The news last month of the starvation death of an 11-year-old girl in the Simdega district in Jharkhand, allegedly because of denial of PDS ration due to Aadhaar linking problems, is appalling. The Aadhaar ecosystem definitely needs to pass a stringent welfare test much more crucially than the privacy test. Aadhaar undeniably has potential, and can perhaps even be...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: More than half the light emitting diode (LED) bulb brands sold in India breach the safety standards prescribed by the government's Bureau of Indian Standards, a lighting industry association said on Monday, citing a survey by a market research firm. The Nielsen survey has found that 36 to 73 per cent of LED bulb brands sold across 200 retail outlets in four cities failed to comply with the...

-Livemint.com Madhya Pradesh government had launched the compensation scheme to ensure that farmers receive minimum support price for pulses and oilseeds New Delhi: An ambitious scheme launched by the Madhya Pradesh government to ensure that farmers receive minimum support prices (MSP) for pulses and oilseeds is falling prey to trader cartels, suggest price data from wholesale markets and testimonies by farmer organizations. Following a sharp fall in crop prices over the past year...