The Food and Civil Supplies Department has ordered an inquiry into the alleged black marketing of fortified atta (wheat flour) meant for distribution through the Public Distribution System (PDS) in Ahmedabad. PDS store managers in Danilimda, Juhapura, Piplag, Santoshnagar, Meghaninagar, Shah Alam, Gomtipur and Vasna-Sorainagar have reportedly sold off ration items, especially fortified flour meant for the poor, to eateries, hotels and Grocery stores in the city. F L Ghalchar, Deputy Controller,...

The UID project has both ‘security' and ‘developmental' dimensions. The former leads to an invasive state; the latter leaves us with a retreating state. Is identity the “missing link” in India's efforts to rise as an “inclusive” economic superpower? Can an identity-linked and technology-based solution change the face of governance in India? Given the euphoria around the Unique Identification (UID) project, one is tempted to believe so. However, a careful look...

State wants Centre to bear 25% of the cost Centre had earlier rejected the scheme The State government has resubmitted its project for distribution of essential commodities through ration shops to the Centre for assistance and proposes to lobby for it strongly. The project envisages distribution of 13 items, such as green gram, Bengal gram, split gram, coriander and chillies, through the ration shops in the State at subsidised rates. The State wants...

Delhi NGOs initiate a process to survey the city's homeless people and reach welfare schemes to them. IN the narrow lanes of Khari Baoli, Asia's largest wholesale spice and Grocery market in the crowded Old Delhi area near the Red Fort, labourers grapple with heavy sacks of grain, pulses, and so on as they load them on to wooden trolleys or unload them from trucks. There is no room for...

KEY TRENDS   • Maternal Mortality Ratio for India was 370 in 2000, 286 in 2005, 210 in 2010, 158 in 2015 and 145 in 2017. Therefore, the MMRatio for the country decreased by almost 61 percent between 2000 and 2017 *14    • As per the NSS 71st round, among rural females aged 5-29 years, the main reasons for dropping out/ discontinuance were: engagement in domestic activities, not interested in education, financial constraints and marriage. Among rural males aged...