-The Indian Express “A government committed to democracy and the Constitution has nothing to fear from information and dissent,” he said. “Any government that discourages dissent and autonomy of ideas is not a liberal government.” Institutions that are responsible for implementing the Right to Information Act should not be anything but completely autonomous, Bombay High Court judge Justice Gautam Patel said on Tuesday. “A government committed to democracy and the Constitution has nothing...

-Livemint.com * A ground report reveals the rural landless poor are struggling to find Work, and cutting down on staple food items * The govt needs to urgently expand the food safety net as it is sitting on surplus foodgrain stocks. The rural jobs scheme needs more funding and prompt payments CHITRAKOOT/ PANNA: It is well past 2 in the afternoon, but the wall clock hanging in Seema’s bare room is stuck at...

-The Hindu Activities on upgrade of register stayed, says govt. order In a major boost to the civil rights movement in West Bengal, the State government withdrew activities related to the National Population Register (NPR) on Monday. The notice issued by the Census Cell of the Home and Hill Affairs Department automatically revokes an earlier order when the government departments were instructed to list the names of junior officials to compile the...

-The Indian Express The start of the sugarcane season in Maharashtra is marked by the seasonal migration of around 7-8 lakh labourers from Marathwada and North Maharashtra to the mills in various parts of the state. Pune: Maharashtra’s sugarcane crushing is all set to extend by at least a fortnight as mills complain of acute shortage of harvesting labourers. Mills say that at present around 15-20 per cent less labourers have turned...

-The Indian Express “The name Mohammad can be spelt in many ways. Then there are elderly people, whose dates of birth vary from document to document, simply because they were born at home, and no one kept exact records,” said Maqsood. The unusual advisory is issued just before Friday prayers begin: gather your ID papers, keep them ready. Then, there are tutorial videos on WhatsApp groups, and seminars and Workshops, to...