-The Indian Express Say digital wallets have helped but can’t replace cash. - Shakuntala Vani (51) from Kandivli may not possibly have any black money. She sells vegetables for a living. Having managed somehow since the government demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations on November 8, says Shakuntala, her family is now on the brink of starvation. – Chote Lal (55) from Thakur village never used digital wallets in...

-PTI There is no official estimation of black money either before or after November 8 – the day government announced scrapping of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday. “There is no official estimation of the amount of black money either before or after the government’s decision of November 8, 2016 declaring that bank notes of denominations of the existing series of the value...

-Down to Earth Collective rights to undo historic injustice meted out to indigenous people remain completely ignored by the states, says Citizens’ report Ten years after the historic Forest Rights Act (FRA) was passed by the Indian lawmakers, only three per cent of villages or communities could secure their rights over forest resources which include land and the produce from the forests and water, states the Citizens’ Report prepared by Community...

-Hindustan Times Chinsurah, West Bengal: A 163-year-old municipality administering a small town in West Bengal has shown the world how to manage solid waste in an eco-friendly way, potentially giving urban planners and administrators the key to tackling one of the biggest civic problems. The initiatives of Uttarpara-Kotrung municipality helped the Kolkata Solid Waste Management Improvement Project win a global award, defeating nearest contenders Auckland and Milan in urban solid waste management...

-The Indian Express With optic fibre cables laid in over 65,000 gram panchayats, Centre’s BharatNet project seems on track to achieve its 1,00,000 target by March 2017. However, lack of active connectivity remains a concern. Ahmedabad/ Gandhinagar/ New Delhi: With less than 25 per cent of the 65,475 gram panchayats in the country with optic fibre connectivity having active internet under the BharatNet project, the success of Centre’s push for digital payments...