-The Hindu Business Line They rue voting for BJP in the 2014 LS polls, and swear by Mayawati’s BSP now Jalaun (Uttar Pradesh): The reverse migration triggered by demonetisation has possibly reversed the BJP’s political fortunes in this backward and poverty-stricken region of Bundelkhand. Coupled with agrarian distress, demonetisation-induced reverse migration is pushing voters away from the BJP in the ongoing elections. While the SP-Congress alliance is the frontrunner for upper caste voters,...

-The Hindu Surakhpur, declared ‘fully digital payment enabled’ by government, rues low literacy, poor connectivity Around 10 days ago, a team of Delhi government officials handed over two PoS (point of sale) machines to kirana (grocery) store owners Surat Singh and Ramesh Kumar, both residents of Surakhpur village in Najafgarh, on the Delhi-Haryana border. The officials taught the two how to use the machines. On Wednesday, when The Hindu visited the village, where...

-The Hindu Disappointed by the government’s track record in implementing anti-corruption measures, a group of eminent citizens has decided to take the initiative of setting up a forum to hear complaints of corruption or malfeasance from whistleblowers. Called the Citizens Whistleblowers Forum (CWF), it would “act as a unique, credible platform to provide much-needed confidence to whistleblowers” to expose, without fear, “cases of corruption or wilful misuse of powers”, said a statement...

-The Indian Express The enhancement of state powers without control or transparency is not being done against our wishes The clamour for security, accountability and transparency is leading to unfettered increase in the power of states. We are enacting law after law, introducing technology after technology, to render citizens transparent to the state. But at the same time, we are weakening protections and consenting to technologies in a way that makes the...

-The Times of India At the age of 18, Anwar Ali was the sole breadwinner for his family. Last week, he was hit by a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus while cycling to work in Koppal. He lay bleeding on the road. Instead of rushing him to hospital, most passersby took out their mobile phones to click pictures of the bloodied man. A morbid, voyeuristic urge to upload heart-rending photos of...