-The Telegraph New Delhi: Union home ministry sources today blamed the Haryana government's "wilful neglect" and "abject surrender to lumpen elements" for yesterday's mayhem by Dera Sacha Sauda followers. "Initial assessment reports from the ground suggest a complete administrative and police failure. There was no leadership and no instruction from the police brass to deal with the mob. The will was lacking," a senior ministry bureaucrat told The Telegraph . "It points to...

-Hindustan Times After Tamil Nadu’s pioneering Amma canteens, many states have started community kitchens, such as Karnataka’s Indira Canteens. This is a welcome development. The first coverage of the recently inaugurated “Indira canteens” in Karnataka that I noticed were two reports on television channels. Both were poking fun (justifiably) at Rahul Gandhi’s goofy speech at the launch. Sadly though, neither commented on the rationale or importance of the Karnataka government’s initiative. This...

-Hindustan Times The high court called the PM Narendra Modi-led government’s reaction to the violence “only a knee-jerk” one, dismissing the argument that the havoc occurred in different states ruled by different parties. Chandigarh: The Prime Minister is of the nation and not the BJP, the Punjab and Haryana high court remarked on Saturday as riots engulfed two states after controversial “godman” Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was convicted of rape. The court...

-The Hindu Providing food to the poor or targeted groups at subsidised prices is fully WTO-compatible Transformational changes are taking place in India currently, improving the way we live. These changes are impacting all our lives in small or significant ways. It is gratifying to know that the citizens at large are happy withthese changes. However, forsome who have fed themselves on the fodder that such changes are not for the near...

-The Hindu Concern over security features and embedded programmes of handsets; motivated by data leakage to other countries Concerned about instances of Indian mobile phone users’ contact lists, details and text messages being leaked to other countries, including China, the government has asked all firms selling smartphone handsets in the country to share details of the processes they follow to ensure there is no possibility of data thefts or leakages from their...