-Bloomberg   In all likelihood, Nandan Nilekani's Aadhaar will lead the world. Exactly where it will lead, we'll find out People who grew up in Britain in the 1960s will remember a television programme that built a cult following: The Prisoner. It was about an oddly luxurious detention camp-a kind of Guantanamo Bay by Four Seasons, spa services and brainwashing included. Even if you wanted to, trying to escape was pointless. A...

-The Hindu Business Line Fresh guidelines issued on procurement details, disclosure of CAG reports Public-private partnerships (PPPs) will soon come under the ambit of the RTI (right to information) as per a fresh set of guidelines issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on April 15. According to the guidelines on suo motu disclosure under Section 4 of RTI Act, 2005, the DoPT says since public services are proposed to be...

-The Telegraph A jump in the Centre's annual social welfare spending from Rs 7,500 crore in 1991 to Rs 3 lakh crore now has failed to make much difference on the ground because panchayati raj institutions are being kept away from implementation of the schemes, a committee has found. The committee headed by senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, in its report released on the eve of National Panchayat Day, pitched for...

-The Hindu Business Line Plans start from Re 1/day to hook those who have never logged in via smartphones Mumbai: Telecom operators are going the sachet way, launching low-cost packs to hook the new cell phone-Netizen. From one rupee a day to Rs 25 for seven days' usage, telecom service providers are coming up with novel plans to attract mobile Internet users. Aircel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India have launched, or are launching,...

-Live Mint The experience of Kerala and Tripura shows how panchayati raj can help in the empowerment of women Chulubari (Tripura)/Kanjikuzhy (Kerala): Her relatives warned Hena Das, a resident of Chulubari in Tripura, against taking up political office because it wasn't "meant for women". Das disregarded the warnings. Two years on, she has no regrets. She also has no male colleagues; her fellow representatives on the board of an 12-member panchayat are all...