-The Hindu Mumbai: While the Aadhaar card is not yet made mandatory for citizens of India, the government agencies in future can make it compulsory for availing benefits from their pro-people schemes. "If a certain authority feels that the beneficiaries of a particular scheme need to possess Aadhar cards, they can make it mandatory for them for that particular scheme," said Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India, on Monday here. Mr....

-PTI Bhopal: In the light of Supreme Court's recent directive and to curb the acid attacks, Madhya Pradesh government has tightened the rules regarding sale of acids, and introduced a jail term and heavy fine as penalty. Those selling acids without a valid license, or not maintaining a proper record of sale, will face a jail term of three months and fine of Rs 50,000, as per the new rules. Further, the buyer...

-IANS New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday banned over-the-counter sale of acid at retail outlets and ordered a compensation of Rs.3 lakh to be paid by the government to each acid attack victim. An amount of Rs. 1 lakh will have to be paid to an acid attack victim within 15 days, the court said. The apex court bench, headed by Justice R.M. Lodha, issued detailed directions for regulating the sale of...

-The Business Standard   The food security ordinance would empower poor urban migrants to challenge denial of ration cards The new Food Security Ordinance provides virtually nothing and yet quite a lot. What it provides is food as a legal right. And that means a lot for a poor migrant in a city chawl, with no local address proof, having left all identity cards back in their native village and unable to claim anything...

-The Hindu There has been no public debate on the level of watch citizens can be put through, and on what the red lines should be while using intrusive mechanisms The tussle between government agencies' need for a better, faster and real-time interception, surveillance and monitoring mechanism through the Central Monitoring System (CMS), on the one hand, and demands by privacy, civil rights and free speech activists, for ensuring higher privacy for...