-The Telegraph The Centre has issued a directive asking officials to seek only the minimum number of documents required for claiming family pension following complaints of unnecessary harassment. In a memorandum issued last week, the department of pension and pensioners’ welfare asked all central government ministries and departments to “strictly” adhere to instructions so that relatives of deceased pensioners are not put through “any hardships”. From the “representations received in this department it...

-Frontline Members of denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, treated as criminal tribes by the colonial rulers, have no place to call their own and no land, no rights, and no support from the government.  Emaciated, eyes sunken deep into sockets, skin hanging loose, almost gasping for breath, Indro Devi and Sarvnath, a couple in their eighties, lie on polythene sheets in an 8×10 square-foot tent made of rags, by a stinking nullah...

-The Hindu Building ‘capitalism with Indian characteristics’ means decisions cannot ignore concerns of voters and communities As the economy slows down and the rupee wilts, Manmohan Singh has bitten the ‘reforms’ bullet with both eyes on the credit rating agencies whose negative reports have done much to dampen the ‘animal spirits’ of investors, foreign and native. Last November, when the Congress party made a push to introduce foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail,...

-The Business Standard Make politicians' asset disclosures clearer, and follow up In an important move towards transparency, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year reminded his council of ministers to declare their assets, movable and immovable, and said that the declarations would be put up online. Declarations for 2012 are now online and these should be welcome. But they also reveal that many lacunae remain in terms of full and clear disclosure. The...

-The Telegraph The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to explain why state-run orphanages throw out inmates the day they turn 18 though they may be unemployed and unable to fend for themselves. Acting on a public interest litigation filed by lawyer Sudhanshu S. Choudhari, the court issued the notices on Tuesday to the Union women and child development ministry and its counterparts in all the states and Union territories. It asked the...