-The Times of India BENGALURU: For most residents of Bhangi colony near KR Market, pressing on the Aadhaar-enabled point-of-sale (PoS) machine at the nearby ration store is a crucial exercise that is riddled with unpredictability. For, the machine could deny their share of subsidized food, simply by not recognizing their thumb impression. Despite most of them having successfully seeded their Aadhaar numbers with ration cards, many are struggling to get foodgrains from...

-The Hindu Deregulating bamboo production does not address the issue of building a transparently governed forest sector Governments everywhere tend to look for quick-fixes, overlooking complexities and ignoring the big picture. The move by the Centre to “de-regulate” bamboo production by amending the definition of “trees” under the Indian Forest Act (IFA), 1927, is a great example of this tendency. In November 2017, the Central government issued an ordinance whereby “bamboo” was...

-The Hindu Low conviction rates and a lack of a lawful definition of crime mark criminal administration in India Police reform in India has Been concerned with political interference ever since the landmark Supreme Court judgement, in 2006, on the subject. The focus should really be on reorganising criminal administration. The annual publication of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), “Crime in India 2016”, which was released recently, presents a dismal picture of...

-Deccan Chronicle Bail-in clause in the proposed law can make you lose your rights on your bank deposits. As part of a host of banking reforms, the Central government has approved a bill in June 2017 to enact a new law framing rules for the resolution of failing banks, whose details that surfaced on social media made all bank depositors a worried lot. If the government goes ahead with this move, it...

-The Indian Express Low crime rate numbers often don’t mean citizens are safer, and ‘rape capital’ and ‘crime capital’ could both be unfair assessments. In reports such as the one published by the National Crime Records Bureau last week, the quality of data is important, as is its placement in the right context. New Delhi: “It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts...