-The Hindu Nauroti Devi, who never went to a school, uses a computer for village administration. VISAKHAPATNAM: Nauroti would hardly draw any attention from a passerby except maybe her traditional pallu over the head might draw a curious stare in South India. A Dalit who never went to school, after being elected sarpanch of Harmada village in Kishangarh Tehsil in Ajmer district of Rajasthan, she trained the government employee panchayat secretary on how...

-The Indian Express Jaipur: Kanwar Lal, BJP MLA from Aklera who allegedly beat up members of a civil society group during an accountability march last month, has 20 criminal cases registered against him at two police stations in his constituency. He was also arrested once. Of these, in nine investigations, most involving breaking into houses and tearing up copies of a religious book, his name was later removed, six are pending in courts,...

-The Hindu The audacious and unprovoked attack last week on a group of activists who held a peaceful rally in Rajasthan can only be explained in terms of the rising resentment on the part of the ruling class towards civil society organisations demanding accountability. Flagged off by social activist Aruna Roy, the Jawabdehi Yatra was aimed to spread awareness about government schemes and raise the issue of accountability in their implementation....

-DNA Widespread damage and loss of the Kharif crop in 2015 due to drought served to highlight the insecurity of the Indian farmers in the face of various challenges beyond their control: drought, hailstorms, unseasonal rains, cyclones, wild animals, epidemics and seed or technological failures, among others. Farm rights movements across the country have rubbished the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) calling it “a dressed up version of existing crop insurance...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Heavy losses in rural areas in recent elections have pushed the Narendra Modi government to re-launch its crop insurance scheme with changes to make it more farmer-friendly. The BJP has been asked to go all out to sell the scheme, renamed the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme) to emphasise Modi's central role in conceptualising it. Three senior ministers, Rajnath Singh, M. Venkaiah Naidu and...