-The Times of India The Ambedkar-Nehru cartoon controversy has drawn contrasting views from political analysts and social scientists. Dalit intellectuals feel the cartoon is demeaning to Dr Ambedkar. Others believe the controversy is needless, with one commentator saying it smacks of "psephocracy", a system where electoral politics and priorities drive decision-making. Says social scientist Ashis Nandy, "The controversy indicates that though the process of democratization has taken place, democratic values have not...

-PTI Charging the government with showing apathy towards the grievances of farmers, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Saturday insisted that the proposed Food Security Bill should be formulated after discussing the issues with those involved in the agriculture sector. “Government wants to bring a Bill which aims to provide food security to the people. Then a person who does not get food can go to court. Such a...

-The Telegraph A one-stop web-enabled solution for silk farmers of the country was launched today. SILKS (Sericulture, Information Linkages and Knowledge System) was inaugurated by Ishita Roy, member secretary of Central Silk Board, Bangalore, today through video conferencing. It is expected to go a long way in addressing the needs and problems of silk farmers in the country. “This should be used as a tool for Decision Making and states should start working on...

It dismisses as “false and fabricated documents” fax messages claimed to have been sent by Sanjiv Bhatt The Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team has totally disagreed with the observations of amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran, and said no case can be made out against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the 2002 communal riots under any of the Sections of the Indian Penal Code mentioned by him. Mr. Ramachandran, in his...

-Down to Earth Biometric-based unique identity or Aadhaar is leading to huge problems for people working for the rural employment guarantee scheme and for others receiving welfare benefits. Not only have enrolments been done shoddily but the experience of the pilot projects shows that it is almost impossible to authenticate the work-hardened fingerprints of the poor, find Latha Jishnu and Jyotika Sood. Besides, there is the overwhelming issue of deficient online...