-The Hindu Can Aadhaar be the one-stop solution for all identification requirements? Does it safeguard the privacy of its various beneficiaries? The story so far: Two days after issuing an advisory asking people to refrain from sharing photocopies of their Aadhaar Card, the Unique Identification development Authority of India (UIDAI) opted to withdraw the notification. It stated that the action was to avert any possibility of ‘misinterpretation’ of the (withdrawn) press release,...

Every year in the month of either February or March, the Ministry of Rural development (MoRD) announces the notified MGNREGA wage rates (i.e., notified daily wage rates for MGNREGA workers) for various states and Union Territories (UTs) for the upcoming financial year. The MGNREGA rates are notified every year based on the increase in Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL). Like the previous years, in 2021 too, experts and civil...

-The Telegraph Rain-induced landslide and flood destroyed 2086 houses and 13 schools besides affecting and 2403.42 hectare of agricultural land in Dima Hasao district Guwahati: The widespread destruction and disruption caused by flood and landslides in Assam’s Dima Hasao district have turned the spotlight on the creation of development projects at the “cost” of the ecology in the ecologically fragile hill district. As an inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) visited the district on Saturday...

-The New Indian Express Rice has never been a staple food of Punjab, and the irony is that the rice crop covers the largest fertile area in Punjab. The recent developments regarding the international trade of Indian wheat has sparked a debate about India’s export policies. Besides the economics of the export ban move and India’s foreign policy, the public health perspective should also influence decisions regarding  the trading and distribution of...

-The Hindu Lack of technical support, glitches in the app and poor Internet connectivity pose problems The Union government has made capturing of attendance through its app, National Mobile Monitoring System, compulsory at worksites where 20 or more workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are employed. This move comes despite many problems, including patchy Internet connectivity in rural areas and little or no technical support. The Ministry of...