-The Hindu Mumbai: While the Aadhaar card is not yet made mandatory for citizens of India, the government agencies in future can make it compulsory for availing benefits from their pro-people schemes. "If a certain authority feels that the beneficiaries of a particular scheme need to possess Aadhar cards, they can make it mandatory for them for that particular scheme," said Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India, on Monday here. Mr....

-The Hindu Unlike many countries that have passed laws to protect citizens' privacy, the Indian state is collecting more and more information about private individuals under various pretexts and restricting their right to access their own information Does a serving employee of a premier intelligence agency have the right to inspect his own biodata which that agency handed over to another public authority? Then again, does a former employee of that agency...

-The Hindu Per capita entitlements under the food security bill will not cover beneficiaries as comprehensively as household entitlements The government hopes to secure in this session of Parliament, approval for the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) so that it can replace the food security ordinance. The NFSB, on which the ordinance is based, guarantees supplementary nutrition services through anganwadis for all children under six, midday meals for schoolchildren, and, very importantly, maternity...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Keen to hasten the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today shifted a key department overseeing its implementation from the Planning Commission to the Finance Ministry for "better coordination" and "resolution of inter-ministerial issues". The DBT programme has covered over 2.8 million LPG transactions valued at Rs 116 crore in the seven weeks since it was launched, the Prime Minister's Office said here today. "In order to...

-The Hindu The scheme has crossed 2.28 million transactions, benefiting 1.25 million LPG households, says Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily The ambitious direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for domestic LPG cylinder, launched in 18 districts of the country on June 1, has crossed 2.28 million transactions. Indications are that the scheme will be rolled out throughout the country by the year-end. Terming it a big success, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister...