-The Indian Express The BJP argued that the “competitive federalism” created by the move would put the onus of development on Congress-ruled states Even as the Congress claimed credit for the NDA government’s retreat on the land acquisition Bill, the BJP argued that the “competitive federalism” created by the move would put the onus of development on Congress-ruled states and would give BJP the political mileage in the states where it...

-Hindustan Times Dashrath Manjhi of Gehlaur village near Gaya in Bihar spent most of his life carving a path through a mountain, armed with just a hammer and chisel. Last week, his story was released as a film, a tribute to the man who challenged a flawed and negligent system. While Manjhi's is an epic tale, he is not entirely alone. Across the country, individuals have taken on heroic challenges, stepping in...

-The Indian Express The objective of the DNA Profiling Bill, 2015, is to establish a regulatory framework for DNA testing, and setting standards and guidelines for laboratories doing these tests. The proposed Human DNA Profiling Bill, 2015, could not be finalised in time to be introduced in Parliament’s Monsoon Session. After that, owing to the intense debate generated by the Bill in the past few weeks, the government extended the deadline...

-Hindustan Times Farmers like Amolak Singh in the farm rich state of Punjab are making money and also helping clean the air in cities like Chandigarh and Delhi by selling agricultural waste to generate bioenergy. Every year in November, farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan burn agricultural waste which leads to rise in air pollution levels in the national capital and neighbouring cities, home for over 2.5 crore people. Things have changed as...

The Digital India Mission, launched by the NDA government, aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats with high speed broadband internet by December, 2016 so that citizens can access online services. However, available facts reveal that this is a difficult task to be accomplished. In rural areas, among the youth aged 14-29 about 82 percent do not know how to operate a computer. In urban areas, nearly 51 percent of youth...