-Pratirodh.com The fanfare with which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched a service delivery scheme in Rajasthan based on the Aadhaar (foundation) unique identity (UID), and celebrated the issue of the first Aadhaar number topping the 200-million mark, should make the Indian National Congress a very worried party indeed—assuming it has a good survival instinct and basic grasp of practical politics.    To put it starkly, the Congress and...

-Frontline There is growing violence against women and children in Haryana, aided by the apparent collusion between the State government and the upper-caste-dominated khap panchayats. THE road leading to Dabra village in Haryana’s Hisar district is not very difficult to locate. It was at Dabra, a mere 15 kilometres from the district headquarters, that a heinous crime was committed on September 9. It would have gone unnoticed had it not been accompanied...

-The Economic Times A ministerial panel working on changes to the Land Acquisition Bill has restored a provision that entails stiffer consent requirements for land acquisition for private companies and extending the legislation to all unfinished acquisitions from the day it becomes effective, clauses that are unlikely to make the bill popular with industry. The two clauses are among some 25 changes that have been made to the bill by the group...

-The Hindustan Times Land acquisition for private projects will require the consent of 80% of landowners, the upcoming bill will stipulate. Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who heads a group of ministers (GoM) on the bill, on Monday said the earlier decision to seek the consent of two-thirds - 66.6% - of the landowners has been revised. Congress president Sonia Gandhi had reportedly objected to the dilution of the consent clause -...

-The Hindu Women continue to be invisible to planners, despite their high levels of contribution to the national economy, says a UN Women paper on women and forests Some of the present policies in forest management are detrimental to the poor, particularly women, states a UN Women paper by NC Saxena, member National Advisory Council, even as he suggests changes that could ameliorate their condition. Despite economic growth, gender inequalities in “critical human development...