-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar (Odisha): The state government today issued a notification, making it mandatory for private hospitals and nursing homes, which receive government land at a subsidised rate, to provide free treatment to poor patients. The no-objection certificate to run the hospitals will be withdrawn if they fail to comply with the order. According to the notification, free treatment to those belonging to the below poverty line category (BPL) patients should be provided...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The M.P. Bezbaruah committee suggested in its report to the Centre last month that a law be drafted specifically to prevent discrimination against people from the Northeast living outside the region. The panel was set up after the lynching of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar in January this year. So far, only the committee's push for a debate on the need for an anti-racism...

-Down to Earth Panel headed by economists S Mahendra Dev also recommends linking wages to Consumer Price Index-Rural as cushion against inflation A committee of experts set up by the Union rural development ministry has recommended that the wages paid to unskilled agricultural labourers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) should be the minimum wage fixed by the respective state or the current wage as per the consumer...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Four days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first public statement surprisingly backing the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani met with the PM and finance minister Arun Jaitley and persuaded the new regime to persist with Aadhaar numbers and the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme. This meeting - a life-saver for the Aadhaar programme - happened on the first...

-The Hindu Business Line The case against labour inspector raj is overstated. Labour courts need to be strengthened The labour reform debate in India has acquired renewed vigour under the new government. The Rajasthan and the Haryana governments have recently proposed to amend a few Central labour laws. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has also circulated labour reform proposals. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has issued an "advisory" to the...