-The Hindu The Aadhaar Bill opens the door to mass surveillance. This danger needs to be seen in the light of recent attacks on the right to dissent. No other country, and certainly no democratic country, has ever held its own citizens hostage to such a powerful infrastructure of surveillance. The Aadhaar project was sold to the public based on the claim that enrolment was “voluntary”. This basically meant that there was...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: It’s quite possible that in this Parliament session, India will make the transition from being a wasteful welfare state to a reformed economy that allocates scarce resources efficiently. The Modi government on Thursday introduced the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016. When signed into law, the bill will make Aadhaar -- the unique biometric identification number -- central to all social...

-Livemint.com A growth-first approach may work in the short-term, but India needs to prioritize sustainability simultaneously The Union Budget 2016-17, seeking to “transform India”, has been hailed for its emphasis on agricultural growth and sustainability. Symbolically, the finance minister put “agriculture and farmers’ welfare” first in his nine-point agenda. The words “agriculture” and “farmer” found 20 and 32 mentions, respectively, in the budget speech, the highest in the last decade. On the...

-The Hindu In case you missed the Budget, here's a round-up. Affirming that the economy is right on track, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17. Citing that the CPI inflation has come down to 5.4% from 9 plus, he said it is huge relief for the public. Tax Infrastructure and agriculture cess to be levied. Excise duty raised from 10 to 15 per cent on tobacco products other than beedis 1 per...

-The Indian Express Budget makes the right moves on agriculture, but they may not be bold enough. In the last two weeks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed three rallies of farmers, one each in MP, Karnataka and UP. Although it was late in the game, as farmers have been reeling under acute distress for two years, yet better late than never. Addressing the rallies, the PM thundered he would like to...