-The Hindu Not only is the death penalty barbaric and immoral and its deterrent effect unproven, it also contradicts the core objectives of the criminal justice system Advocating for the abolition of the death penalty in the immediate aftermath of the sentencing in the Delhi rape case may appear morally dubious. What rights do people guilty of so heinous a crime lay claim to, and what do they deserve but death, you...

-The Hindu Mysore (Karnataka): The much-lauded biometric ration card system is believed to be fool proof and expected to bring the public distribution system (PDS) in step with the digital era. However, ironically, the feedback from the ground indicates that it is rejecting the poor and the impoverished it was intended to benefit. The biometric authentication system installed at the PDS outlets fails to establish the identity of many genuine beneficiaries, mostly...

-The Hindu Geeta Dharmarajan, founder of Katha, which has just completed 25 years of reaching out to the unreached in the National Capital. Scrolling down the students' blog of Katha, the non-profit organisation in the National Capital which runs schools for underprivileged children living in 248 slums, I come across a complaint letter by a child addressed to the Chairman, Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The child wants to bring to his notice...

-The Hindu The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General underscoring the blatant violation of conservation laws and Supreme Court orders in the diversion of forests for destructive non-forestry use confirms what former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said about the system: it's a bit of a joke. The compensatory afforestation mechanism instituted to balance the devastating loss of natural forests has failed abysmally. The CAG's report is proof that India's...

-The Hindu Beneficiaries say fair price outlets are overcharging, not supplying stipulated amount Bangalore: Even as every Below Poverty Line (BPL) family is assured of rice at Re. 1 a kg for a maximum of 30 kg, charging more than the fixed price and distributing less than the stipulated quantity are common complaints across the State. When The Hindu visited a fair price shop at Salagame in Hassan district, about 9 km from...