-The Hindustan Times The UPA government intends to put the world's biggest job guarantee programme - MGNREGA - on its "game-changer" money transfer platform - the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) from this October. That would happen if the government agencies are able to provide unique identification or Aadhaar numbers to entire population in 51 districts, where the government intends to put MGNREGA under DBT mode, and the banks and posts offices come...

-The Hindu The Election Commission on Wednesday said that paid news was a very "complex problem" and it had taken the issue seriously to ensure a level-playing field to all political parties and candidates in the elections to the Legislative Assembly on May 5. Addressing a media workshop on electoral process here, Director-General at the Election Commission, Akshay Rout, said: "Paid news is a complex issue and it had disturbed the political...

-The Hindu Election Commission team coming on April 8 to review poll preparedness Bangalore: Now you can find crucial details about a candidate contesting the Assembly elections - his criminal record and assets/liabilities - in one consolidated format. Information on both these aspects will be part of a single document and will be up on the Election Commission website within 24 hours of it being filed. Hitherto, these details were in scattered in...

-The Hindu When a political party puts up candidates with criminal charges, it results in the alienation of large sections of people from the political class and politics itself When the Election Commission of India turned 60 on January 25, 2010, The Hindu opened its lead editorial of January 29 with the words, “After overseeing 15 General Elections to the Lok Sabha, the ECI, in its diamond jubilee year, can with justifiable...

-The Times of India The Right to Education Act (RTE) mandates that every child has the fundamental right to free and compulsory elementary education in India. March 31, 2013, is the deadline set for full implementation of the Act. However, several challenges need to be overcome, especially to provide education for children in areas of conflict.  In the Indian context, three regions experience varying degrees of conflict - Maoist-affected areas, Jammu and...