-Press Release from Common Cause Common Cause, an organisation dedicated to serving public causes through democratic interventions, is shocked that the NDA government has followed exactly the same practice and procedures as the predecessor UPA government in the appointment of the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India. The Narendra Modi government, which claims to have zero tolerance for corruption, has missed a golden opportunity to set a high benchmark...

-TheWire.in There a growing chasm between corporate India’s hiring strategy and the aspirations of India’s young workers. The new skill development minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, has a strong track record in digital schemes to deliver subsidised gas to needy households. But he is in for a challenge in the vocational training sector, less amenable to scale economies, woefully dependent on private industry and saddled with the burden of expectations set, first by the...

-The Hindu Facts show that the Services are the last bastion of male dominance, with women even denied a permanent commission Despite the latest move by the Army to induct 800 women into its ranks, cold facts show that the Indian military is the last bastion of male dominance in the government. Many women in uniform are hoping that the country’s first full-time woman Defence Minister will take bold decisions against what...

-The Hindu Business Line The possible gain arising out of tax compliance has come at too high a human cost ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.’ – Benjamin Disraeli After the RBI’s latest revelations — of 99 per cent of the extinguished currency having returned to the banks — media pundits and economists have wasted no time in saying that efforts to obliterate black money have failed. However,...

-The Hindu The very foundation of Aadhaar must be reconsidered in the light of the privacy judgment Predictably enough, the recent Supreme Court order affirming that privacy is a fundamental right sent Aadhaar’s public-relations machine into damage control mode. After denying the right to privacy for years, the government promptly changed gear and welcomed the judgment. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), suddenly asserted, “The Aadhaar...