-The Indian Express Urban poor are highest in Manipur, Mizoram, Bihar, least in Goa and delhi Unreleased data from the first urban Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), tabulated as per criteria laid down by the erstwhile Planning Commission’s expert Hashim committee, shows that roughly 35 per cent of urban Indian households live below poverty line (BPL). This amounts to 22 million households of the total 63 million households surveyed in 4,041...

-The Times of India NEW delhi: Challenging repromulgation of land acquisition ordinance by Narendra Modi government, three delhi-based NGOs and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Thursday told the Supreme Court that government was trying to "govern the country by ordinance raj" which was not permissible. Appearing before a bench headed by Justice JS Khehar, senior advocate Indira Jaising said that the govt is making mockery of the constitution by bringing ordinances when...

-PTI NEW delhi: The government today launched three agri-portals to make the process of organic farming certification, fertilisers' quality checking and issuance of soil health cards, more transparent and accountable. These portals, launched only in English, will be made available in regional languages also in the next phase for the benefit of farmers. "The three agricultural portals will bring more transparency and accountability. This will help the farming community," Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan...

-The Telegraph New delhi: The Centre today urged the Supreme Court to vacate its two-year-old stay on making Aadhaar cards mandatory for welfare benefits, praising the "tremendous success" of a programme Narendra Modi had trashed as a "scam" while in Opposition. Moving an application in the apex court, the government pleaded that the court stay was hobbling various social-sector programmes, including the direct benefit transfer schemes. It said that while beneficiaries' money was...

-The Times of India MUMBAI/NEW delhi: Medicines widely used to treat diabetes, infections, pain and digestive disorders will cost 5-40% less with immediate effect, with the drug price regulator issuing an order to fix the prices of 39-odd formulations. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority's (NPPA) order, issued on Wednesday, includes drug combinations such as ciprofloxacin hydrochloride, cefotaxime, paracetamol, domperidone and metformin + glimepiride and amoxycillin + potassium clavulanate. These drugs and combinations are...