-The Telegraph Bench says matter will be taken up along with similar pleas pending before SC The Supreme Court will on October 18 take up a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which critics say is being increasingly used by parties in power against political opponents and journalists. The bench of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and J.B. Pardiwala,...

-Livemint.com The government had to lower the import duty on edible oils several times in recent months to tame food inflation NEW DELHI: The government is set to launch an oilseed MISsion to boost domestic production of oilseeds and reduce import dependence, said NITI Aayog member, agriculture, Ramesh Chand. India currently makes around ₹1 trillion worth of edible oil imports every year or nearly half of its demand. The proposed scheme was devised after...

-India Spend More than 50% of rural households are reported to have functional household tapwater connections under the Jal Jeevan MISsion. But does this translate into availability of water for the rural poor? Banda, Baghpat and Bengaluru: "We drink whatever quality water we can get," says Munni Devi, a Dalit worker who lives in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh (UP). "Of course we get sick, but we don't have any other choice....

-The Hindu The Census in India is about many things — it must be made a priority and used to affirm a sense of comradeship Among the best uses of a census anywhere in the world was perhaps what happened in the United States when, in 1850 and 1860, anti-slavery campaigners used numbers from two consecutive national censuses to build support for the abolition of slavery. They showed the number of enslaved...

-Hindustan Times The government is considering price-control measures, such as asking traders to declare their available wheat stocks, and a crackdown on hoarding of grains, he said. India has ample wheat for federally run welfare programmes but speculative trading has pushed up cereal prices, prompting the government to consider measures, such as disclosure of stocks by private traders, a senior official said. The Union government is watching price and stock movements closely and...