Ankaji Bhai Gangar, a 49-year-old subsistence farmer, stood in line in this remote village until, for the first time in his life, he squinted into the soft glow of a computer screen. His name, year of birth and address were recorded. A worker guided Mr. Gangar’s rough fingers to the glowing green surface of a scanner to record his fingerprints. He peered into an iris scanner shaped like binoculars that...

The absence of a law regulating surrogacy makes India, especially Anand, a top destination for couples from abroad. UNTIL about 2008, the future looked bleak for Sharadaben Solanki. A landless daily-wage worker in Anand, Gujarat, she earned a paltry Rs.600 a month. Her husband earned an equal amount working as a construction labourer. Together the couple supported three children and their parents. That was when she heard from Maganbhai, the owner of...

Gandhi, JP, VP. . . Anna is being compared to many stalwarts. But is this gummy old man tilting at windmills or is he a genuine harbinger of change? When Arvind Kejriwal and his partners in 'India Against Corruption' brought Anna Hazare to Delhi as the face of their movement for a Jan Lokpal bill, they little imagined that this gummy old man from tiny Ralegaon Siddhi in Maharashtra would capture...

-The Indian Express   Having lost around 50 per cent male weavers to migration and schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the carpet industry in Bhadohi and surrounding areas now wants women to be trained as weavers. “Women weavers are more likely to stay put at homes, whether they are married or unmarried. So training them would be good investment,” said secretary All-India Carpet Manufacturers Association, Abdul Hazi. The...

-The Hindu   In his Independence Day address, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made two important announcements, both relating to education. One affirmed the government's intention to improve the quality of education at various levels and appoint an Education Commission to go into the issues. The other outlined a plan to universalise secondary education as a follow-up to the enactment of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009...