-The Times of India BHUBANESWAR: In an unprecedented move described by industrialist Ratan Tata as ‘earth-shaking’, and which prompted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take recourse to British author Aldous Huxley, Odisha on Monday provided land rights certificates to 2,000 landless slum dwellers and promised to develop modern urban habitats complete with roads, street lights, parks and playgrounds for them. The initiative is the culmination of the Odisha Land Rights to Slum...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi and Mayawati castigated the Madhya Pradesh government on Monday over the branding of police recruits by caste, and Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule asked the Prime Minister's Office to probe the "shameful" incident. Media reports have said that newly recruited police constables had "SC" (Scheduled Caste), "ST" (Scheduled Tribe) or "OBC" (Other Backward Classes) marked on their bare chests with felt pens during their medical...

  There is some bad news for the world’s largest democracy. Thanks to the vitiated atmosphere induced by troll attacks on scribes on social media, among other things, the country's World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) ranking has fallen two places to 138th position.   Among 180 countries, India ranked 136th last year with a score of 42.94. However, in 2018 it attained 138th position with a score of 43.24 according to the...

-Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) NOTA (None of the above) was introduced in India through the Supreme Court’s judgment dated 27th September 2013 in WP (C) No. 161 of 2004, (People's Union for Civil Liberties and another Vs. the Union of India and another). The SC directed the Election Commission to make necessary provision in the ballot papers/EVMs and provide a button for 'None of the Above' (NOTA) in EVMs so...

-The Telegraph MP markets black chicken on mobile app Bhopal: Cock a doodle, er Google, do. The Madhya Pradesh government has launched a mobile app, available on Google Play Store from Thursday, to market a rare chicken breed - the Kadaknath - whose delicious black meat is in high demand for its nutritious content and purported aphrodisiac and medicinal properties. Through the Android app - MP Kadaknath - fowl meat and egg will be...