-The Hindu The Direct Benefits Transfer Initiative is the real tool against corruption that will ensure that the welfare state doesn’t degenerate into a farewell state We are grateful to Narendar Pani (Editorial page, “Cashing in on schemes for poor,” November 29, 2012) and Bharat Bhatti and Madhulika Khanna (Editorial page, “Neither effective nor equitable,” December 4, 2012) for starting a useful debate on the United Progressive Alliance government’s Direct Benefits Transfer...

-The Hindu NAGAPATTINAM: When PMK launched its tirade against inter-caste marriages involving Dalit men, political parties came on board to criticize the statements by Ramadoss. Activists and feminist intellectuals say that what was lost in the melee was the voice of Dalit and Vanniyar women, rendered silent by the confines of caste. “Cast in caste, they have become prized trophies to be owned, regulated and guarded by the menfolk of the respective...

-The Financial Express The banking sector has opened over three crore accounts in rural India as part of their financial inclusion drive. Compared to the number of rural households in the country of over 22 crore this is about 13 per cent. The government data upto March 31, 2012 also shows the extent to which the banking sector has to stretch to make the Aadhaar programme a success. The Aadhaar roll out of...

-The Hindustan Times Indians love slogans. So, since Independence, successive governments have offered catch lines to their electorates. Some slogans were inopportune because they were of dubious accuracy. Jawaharlal Nehru’s 1950s ‘Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai’ — Indians and Chinese are brothers — (even Nehru did not believe this), led to a battlefield defeat. The Congress’ 1975 Emergency-era ‘Indira is India and India is Indira’ and the BJP’s 2004 ‘India Shining’ were electoral disasters. Some...

-Pratirodh.com The streets of the obscure town of Pandharkawda in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra have come to life. Hundreds of villagers crowd them for the weekly haat to buy their supplies of vegetables, spices, pulses and tobacco, while farmers throng shops selling seeds, pesticides, manure and farm commodities. Dressed in bright cotton sarees, women haggle with vendors. Even doctors, especially dentists, are having a busy day with long queues of patients...