-The Hindu ‘The government has taken steps to destroy MGNREGA, an act that gives purchasing power to the rural poor, following prejudicial contentions of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders' It's no secret that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. MGNREGA is perhaps the only law in the world which guarantees 100 days of wage employment a year to one member of a rural...

-The Times of India The man who has been appointed the chief economic advisor to the government of India, Arvind Subramanian, was until recently urging the US to initiate disputes against India before the World Trade Organisation and also seeking changes in provisions within Indian patent law aimed at preventing frivolous patenting and preventing pharma companies from getting extensions on patents by tweaking existing drugs and passing them off as innovations. Subramanian...

-The Indian Express Earlier this month, the ministry of finance announced that over 50 million new bank accounts have been opened and 17 million debit cards issued since the launch of a bold new plan to grant financial access to the poor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced this initiative, called the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), in a speech in August. Its ultimate goal is to reach 150 million unbanked...

-The United Nations States must be transparent about the nature of their electronic mass surveillance programmes, an independent United Nations counter-terrorism expert said today as he warned about the impact such MEAsures might have on individuals' right to privacy. "States need to squarely confront the fact that mass surveillance programmes effectively do away with the right to online privacy altogether," Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights...

-The Hindu The West Bengal Chief Minister said the decision will benefit nearly 76 per cent of the people who avail treatment in government hospitals in the State. Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has declared that patients will get free treatment in all government hospitals and health centers across the State, other than Medical Colleges in Kolkata. Ms. Banerjee said the decision will benefit nearly 76 per cent of people in Bengal who...