-Business Standard Readies White Paper on agriculture, energy, manufacturing and social development Taking forward its project of creating a national agenda in consultation with the states, the NITI Aayog will soon come out with policy papers on critical sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing and social development. These strategic documents incorporate suggestions from state government and seek to address their concerns. Each White Paper will not only highlight key challenges facing the...

-CounterCurrents.org/ ForestRightsAct.com Sunday night, many of us lost a teacher and comrade, and India lost an extraordinary person. Dr. BD Sharma was an IAS officer who began his administrative career as the Collector of Bastar and retired as the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; and then went on, for another 25 years, to be a mass leader of the Bharat Jan Andolan and an influence on countless other platforms...

-Hindustan Times Bathinda: A month after Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal ordered the Framing of a policy to compensate farm labourers for cotton crop loss due to the whitefly attack, the state government is yet to identify labourers for the purpose. The government had in October announced compensation of Rs 64 crore for labourers, mainly cotton pickers. Badal had also asked the revenue department to come out with a viable policy for...

-The Indian Express According to National Crime Records Bureau data, a total of 24,771 dowry deaths have been reported in the country in past three years while 3.48 lakh cases have been registered under Section 498-A. Have the higher courts whittled down the severity of the anti-dowry harassment law by diluting mandatory FIR and arrest provisions, which now compel women to settle their cases rather than fighting it out? The Supreme Court...

-Outlook The Supreme Court has slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on the Centre for failing to file on time an affidavit on women being forced to become 'devadasis' and the possibility of abolition of the age-old tradition. A bench of justices Madan B Lokur and U U Lalit said that since the government has not filed its response despite the last opportunity given by the court on September 11, it needed...