-NDTV A recent headline in Quartz, an otherwise serious media agency, claims that Jammu and Kashmir is the first state in India to "commit to a universal basic income" (UBI). A glance at the original source quickly negates this claim: it is based on nothing more than "seeds of a thought" (sic) from the Finance Minister of J&K about possible Cash transfers for a small minority of poor households. This is...

-The Hindu The Niti Aayog has called for a review of the provisions of the Right To Education Act that stipulate that children who don’t perform well cannot be held back up to class VIII. It said the good intention behind the norm is detrimental to the learning process. It has also suggested a system where direct benefit transfers offer the poor a choice between subsidised purchases or equivalent cash to buy...

-The Hindu Other proofs of identity will be allowed till March 31 New Delhi: From April 1, workers in rural areas enrolled under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which mandates 100 days of work for a household a year, must have an Aadhaar card. Those who have registered under the scheme will be required to give furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar or undergo the enrolment process till March...

-Scroll.in India’s first chief statistician, Pronab Sen, is now country director of the International Growth Centre, which seeks to build effective growth facilities through engagement between policymakers and researchers. In this interview to Scroll.in, he speaks on the 50 days of demonetisation, its failings, its severe impact on the poor, the loss of credibility of the Reserve Bank of India, the push to make India a cashless or less-cash economy, and...

-The Times of India BIJNOR: Despite the government's announcement that old currency notes can be used to buy seeds, the sowing of wheat has fallen significantly in West UP districts because the seed department has stopped giving them to farmers. According to agriculture department officials, seed centres have stopped selling them since November 24 although it is the peak of the wheat sowing season for the Rabi crop. The reason, officials...