-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Unhappy with failure of state authorities to preserve and protect the fast diminishing water bodies in the capital, the Delhi high court has issued contempt notice to the environment secretary and the DDA vice-chairman. Justice G S Sistani recently sought a response from the state government and DDA's top officials why they should not be charged with contempt of court for being unable to effectively curb...

-The Hindu Mandya: In a single biggest raid in recent years against the "bonded labour system" in the State, Revenue and Police officials on Thursday raided a stone quarry unit on the outskirts of Bangalore and rescued 19 migrant labourers. Among them nine are minors. The rescued labourers are from Mahbubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh. They alleged that they had been working since past 13 years as bonded labourers at the quarry,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Eager to make an impact on the electorate by expediting enrolments under its flagship cash-for-food programme Annshree Yojana, the Delhi government is exploring the option of tying up with the postal department to speed up opening of Aadhaar-enabled, zero-balance accounts for beneficiaries from economically weaker sections not covered by the public distribution system. A total of 45,000 beneficiaries have been enrolled under the scheme launched in...

-The Business Standard NAC shouldn't have seen growth as the enemy of welfare For the nine years of the United Progressive Alliance government, the National Advisory Council led by Sonia Gandhi and including many well-known people from the corporate and non-governmental organisation world - mostly those with a left-of-centre perspective - has been the focus of much attention. The conventional narrative is that the NAC represented Sonia Gandhi's socialist instincts, and regularly...

-Economic and Political Weekly   A report on the 2013 deliberation of the Kolkata Group at its 10th workshop which focused on healthcare, the status of women and social justice in India. A K Shiva Kumar (akshivakumar@gmail.com) is convener of the Kolkata Group workshops which are organised by Pratichi (India) Trust, the Harvard Global Equity Initiative and UNICEF India. At the 10th annual Kolkata Group workshop in February this year, 40 policymakers, development practitioners,...