-The Telegraph Ranchi: Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, today went to Sondari village in Khunti, some 60km from Ranchi, asking village women how farming helped empower their lives. Around 10am, before they pushed off to their haats, fields or got bound to their family kitchens for the day, village women found Melinda in their midst. As the women spoke a mix of Mundari and Hindi and Melinda English,...

-PTI The party launched a website called "Zameen Wapsi" to reportedly counter the Modi government's 'bundle of lies' on the land acquisition issue. Taking the battle on the land bill issue to social media, Congress on Saturday launched a “Zameen Wapsi” website on the eve of its farmers’ rally which is expected to see the first major attack on the government by Rahul Gandhi after his return from leave of absence. The bilingual...

-Economic and Political Weekly Direct benefi t transfers in the form of cash cannot replace the supply of food through the public distribution system. Though it is claimed otherwise, DBT does not address the problems of identifying the poor ("targeting") and DBT in place of the PDS will expose the vulnerable to additional price fluctuation. Further, if the PDS is dismantled, there will also be no need or incentive for procurement...

-Economic and Political Weekly The states now have an opportunity to set their own priorities in the social sector. In the constitutional scheme of things, it is the states rather than the centre which bear the larger responsibility for social sector spending. Indeed, the states already account for as much as 80% of total outlays in the area. But central government intervention in the form of establishment of and funding for certain...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday slammed the Centre for being insensitive towards protection of child rights and for its reluctance to take effective steps to recover MISsing children. It also criticized the government for falling foul of the law by its inability to set up an advisory board under the Juvenile Justice Act in the last 15 years. With around 15 children disappearing every hour in...