-The Telegraph The Congress national general secretary spoke on women’s empowerment in the state where seven-phase elections are being held Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said distributing doles does not empower the poor, accusing some political parties of deliberately weakening the masses to ensure they are not in a position to question governments. Addressing a virtual rally meant for Uttar Pradesh, the Congress leader said: “A (cooking gas) cylinder doesn’t empower women. A...

-Article-14.com India’s 380 million informal workers will be registered on a new database that will allow, says the government, social security payments. It isn’t working as it should because the government insists on Aadhaar, which many workers do not have. Others do not know of it, and if they do, may not be digitally literate, and it isn’t clear what entitlements will follow for workers whose data are being collected. New Delhi:...

-The Hindu It focuses on security, law and order  The Union Government has approved the continuation of a police modernisation scheme for five years up to 2025-26 with a financial outlay of ₹26,275 crore. The Union Home Ministry said the scheme includes security-related expenditure in Jammu and Kashmir, northeastern States and Maoist-affected areas, for raising new battalions, developing high-tech forensic laboratories and other investigation tools. The scheme has been approved for the period from...

-Livemint.com From the large volume of portability transactions under ONORC, it is evident that the beneficiaries are leveraging the facility of ration portability to access their NFSA as well as PMGKAY foodgrains from any FPS of their choice, without being dependent on the tagged ration shop in the ration card, Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said About 56 crore ration card portability transactions have taken place till January 31, since the launch...

-The Hindu Govt. has said PMMVY will cover second child only when it is a girl The government’s recent announcement that the maternity benefit programme which provides ₹5,000 for first child will be extended to cover the second child only if it is a girl has met with sharp criticism from activists who have demanded that it be universalised. The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), launched in 2017, provides ₹5,000 for the...