-The Times of India The number of suicide by farmers has gone down in the country, the government stated in the Lok Sabha. Minister of state for finance Namo Narain Meena informed the Lok Sabha during Question Hour that due to several measures taken by the government the cases had fallen. "As far as farmer suicides are concerned, there has been a fall in the numbers in Andhra Pradesh, also in Karnataka and...

-The Hindu The West Bengal government plans to bring in a bill on reservation in government jobs for those belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC). Announcing this after a Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said although the previous government essayed a similar initiative and tried to pass legislation, the effort fell through as the Governor declined to sign the bill. “As per a Supreme Court instruction on this matter, it is necessary...

-The Hindu   All India Confederation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Organisations will float a confederation of Dalit entrepreneurs for strengthening economic power of Dalits, according to Udit Raj, national chairman of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations. Inaugurating the office of Karnataka unit of the All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations at Hosabettu here on Sunday, Mr. Raj said the objective of launching the Confederation of Dalit Entrepreneurs (CDE) was...

When India embarked on its “unique ID” project in the fall of 2010, pledging to distribute unique 12-digit numbers to 1.2 billion people, the hope was that hundreds of millions of Indians who don’t have a passport, driver’s license or other credible identity document would get one – and with it, a ticket to essential government and private sector services. A new survey led by Arun Sundararajan, a professor at New...

The Supreme Court has taken steps to lay down a code for media reporting. This attempt at prior restraint on the media is a dangerous move with precedent from authoritarian polities. In a context where the judiciary has been lax in defending the media from attacks which seek to curb its freedom, such unilateral moves will not remedy bad reporting but rather make conditions worse for the media to play...