-Down to Earth Can pre-poll sops like giving smart phones with internet connectivity to farmers increase farm income? Last week, thousands of farmers and agricultural workers poured into the National Capital to attract and focus the attention of the Central government to their demands. The Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally, organised by farmers’ organization, All India Kisan Sabha, and the All India Agriculture Workers Union, broke all records as far as crowd numbers...

-TheWire.in Family members of slain Kedar Singh Jindan, along with several locals and activists, have demanded a CBI probe into the matter. New Delhi: Even as the Centre dithers on implementing the Whistleblowers Protection Act, which was passed four years ago to protect anyone who exposes alleged wrongdoing in government bodies, another name has been added to the growing list of RTI activists who have been killed for raising disturbing questions. The...

-The Indian Express As the elderly population grows, India faces new questions, must find new answers. During my childhood, we had a rather strict rule about having dinner together as a family. My grandparents were close to my father, and he to them. The cacophony of cross-conversations between grandparents, parents, cousins bore testimony to filial responsibility that had been deeply internalised by every generation. For a society in the throes of turbulent change,...

-Newsclick.in In the latest govt. release of EPF and ESI numbers, the chaos in industry is revealed – not job situation. What was started last year as a trial balloon has now become a joke, after getting sanctified by everybody in the govt., from PM Modi downwards. Yesterday, the govt. released new numbers on how many people enrolled in three of its Social Security schemes, provident fund (EPF), employees health insurance (ESI)...

-TheWire.in Apart from subsuming all earlier Central and state schemes under the PMUY to boost numbers, a major proportion of scheme beneficiaries cannot afford to use gas despite getting a free connection. New Delhi: The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) is one of the flagship schemes of the Narendra Modi government. Officially launched on May 1, 2016, the government regards it as one of its greatest success stories. The official claim is...