-The Telegraph Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav has wrapped up his free laptop scheme and instead pledged funds for building toilets and upgrading the police force in the state budget unveiled today. "We have kept our poll promise and distributed laptops in the first phase of our programme. The stress in this budget is infrastructure and rural development," said the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, under pressure after his party slipped from 21 seats in...

 -AFP   GENEVA: Indian law enforcement and justice authorities have shirked their responsibility to fight sex attacks, a UN child rights watchdog said on Thursday, amid uproar over the horrific gang-rape and lynching of two girls.   "There has been a dereliction of duty in relation to rape cases," said Benyam Mezmur, deputy chairman of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. India has been struggling to overcome its reputation for sexual violence...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a move to target government welfare schemes and subsidies on citizens of the country, the Union home ministry has asked the Registrar General of India (RGI) to identify the 'citizens' and 'non-citizens' while preparing the National Population Register (NPR). The NPR authorities will undertake a door-to-door verification exercise across the country in this regard. The citizens' register, to be called the National Register of Indian...

-BBC   It's early morning and local commuters are queuing up for tickets at the Kirti Nagar railway station in the Indian capital, Delhi. Along the tracks, another crowd is gathering - each person on his own, separated by a modest distance. They are among the 48% of Indians who do not have access to proper sanitation. Coming from a slum close-by, they squat among the few trees and bushes along the railway tracks...

-The Indian Express   As per UIDAI records, 630 million Indians have already been issued Aadhaar cards. The Department of Information Technology has called a meeting of state government secretaries this week for a status check on Aadhaar. The meeting is significant because of the question marks on the continuation of the scheme under the NDA government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week scrapped the cabinet committee on Unique Identification Authority of India which...