-The Business Standard   Its guarantee of non-duplication can have far-reaching cost benefits but it has deep design flaws that can be compromised. PRAVEEN CHAKRAVARTY Former Volunteer, Financial Inclusion, UIDAI* “Aadhaar is an unadulterated identity programme that answers the question: Is the individual who he or she claims to be?”   The word “unique”, and not “identity”, is central to the unique identity programme or Aadhaar. It may be true that the vast majority of people possess some...

-The Times of India   The filing of nomination by a tribal woman for the panchayat samiti polls at Gadakujang in Jagatsinghpur district, the epicenter of the anti-Posco agitation, has sparked fresh controversy over the presence of tribals in the area. Posco Pratirodhaka Sangram Samiti (PPSS) general secretary Sishir Mohapatra said, "The decision of Meena Hembram and Sara Das has belied the state government's claims that the area doesn't have any tribal population."...

-The Times of India   UP Lokayukta Justice N K Mehrotra has recommended registration of a case and a CBI and Enforcement Directorate probe against former state minister Babu Singh Kushwaha under the Prevention of Corruption and Money Laundering Act.  The Lokayukta has found him prima facie guilty of large-scale anomalies in allotment of mines and other financial irregularities and forwarded a report to chief minister Mayawati for necessary action.  "There were three specific...

The Election Commission's model code of conduct notwithstanding, liquor flowed freely on the eve of assembly polls in Punjab on Sunday, as campaign managers of different political parties sought to lure voters.  This was especially the case in and around the industrial city of Ludhiana, where more than a million migrant workers abound in Sherpur, Samrala Chowk, Mullanpur and Dhaka colony, among other areas.  Residents in the city said liquor was brought...

-The Economic Times The charges of embezzlement of funds for the rural employment scheme may be contributing to the political battle between the Congress and the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, but it appears that, in real terms, political wrangling does not have any significant effect on its implementation. According to a study by the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, the UP government's lack of ownership of the programme, along with low...