-Down to Earth To start work, the Sustainable Development Goals first need to be popularised by the new government The new government has to ensure that each one in the country is able to enjoy freedom and practices tolerance without fear. National security is no doubt significant, but it cannot be the country’s political narrative. India is riddled with problems such as extreme poverty, exploitation and inequalities, and does not need to...

-Frontline.in An RTI-based public interest petition in the Bombay High Court points out that 20 lakh EVMs that the manufacturers affirm to have delivered are “missing” from the possession of the Election Commission. Issues relating to the “vulnerability” and “unreliability” of electronic voting machines (EVMs) have come up regularly in the context of the 2019 general election. Complaints filed by opposition parties on specific instances of malfunctioning of EVMs as well as...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved an ordinance to restore the system of reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs for teaching positions in higher education institutions, with the university or college being considered as one unit instead of treating the department as one. The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Ordinance, 2019 will restore the 200-point roster system for faculty recruitment under which quotas for...

-The Hindu The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday approved the promulgation of an Ordinance to allow voluntary submission of Aadhaar as identity proof for use by private entities such as banks, telcos and fintech firms. The Ordinance also gives a child an option to exit from the Aadhaar on attaining 18 years of age. “The amendments proposed are the same as those contained in the Bill passed by...

-The Hindu Business Line The Union Cabinet has relaxed a condition that requires small and marginal farmers to seed their Aadhaar numbers with their bank accounts for getting the second instalment of payments under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme. While clearing the scheme on February 1, the government had made it mandatory for farmers with less than 2 hectares of land to get Aadhaar seeding done for the second...