-The New Indian Express HYDERABAD: Seeking a legal right status to their two demands- one that of assured remunerative prices for agricultural produce and second, that of farmers’ freedom from debts, members of 190 farmers’ organisation, including 25 from Telangana, met in the city on Thursday to take the discourse and struggle forward. The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee has been leading a nationwide farmers’ movement on these two demands...

-PTI   The apex court said it was shocking that Madhya Pradesh, which was among the states which had received maximum funds from the Centre under the Nirbhaya fund scheme, was disbursing Rs 6,000-6,500 to each rape victim.   New Delhi: Is rape worth Rs 6,500? That's how a shocked Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Madhya Pradesh government while questioning the state whether it was doing a "charity" by giving this meagre...

-The Indian Express Biometric authentication by PDS dealers defeats the unique identity scheme’s purpose. An aborted scheme in Madhya Pradesh that relied on once-in-a-year authentication can curb exclusion errors. Aadhaar is in the news today partly because of security concerns and partly because of reports that the poor are unable to receive PDS rations because of failures in Aadhaar authentication. Here, we will focus on the latter with an eye to look...

-The Hindu The answer lies in the fragile state of the Centre’s finances, and its control over interest, pension and subsidy expenses To any layman watching India’s annual Budget jamboree, the entire exercise must seem very puzzling. After the Finance Minister has read out a long list of giveaways to farmers, small businesses, low-income earners and senior citizens in his speech, none of the beneficiaries seems entirely happy with their gifts. Commentators, after...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With cases of denial of hospital facilities being reported, UIDAI has reiterated that the Aadhaar Act clearly states that benefits cannot be denied due to absence of an Aaadhar number or failure of biometrics due to reasons such as old age or poor connectivity. In a statement, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) asked government departments/ministries and state/UT governments to ensure that no essential service...