-Hindustan Times New Delhi: The government has refused to divulge information about riot control weapons and ammunition used to disperse protesters, saying this was “sensitive defence information” and making it public could jeopardise the country’s security. A Delhi-based rights activist Venkatesh Nayak had filed a right to information (RTI) request asking the Ordnance Factory Board for details on the sale of weapons and ammunition, particularly pellet shotguns that have injured thousands of...

-The Indian Express PDS has improved in the state, but it’s still not up to the mark. Recent media reports suggest that the public distribution system (PDS) in West Bengal is now “doing enormously well” — as one headline put it. Some also claim that this has contributed to the victory of the Trinamool Congress in the latest assembly elections. Since we were involved in the survey cited in these reports, we...

-PTI A government-appointed committee under Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian to look into the issue of bonus to promote pulses cultivation will submit its report to Finance Minister. A government-appointed committee under Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian to look into the issue of bonus to promote pulses cultivation will submit its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tomorrow. “Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Dr Arvind Subramanian will present the Report of Pulses Committee to...

-Business Standard The efficacy of farm debt waivers is ambiguous, but it has proved to be a potent potent weapon in the run-up to elections With elections round the corner in agrarian states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, his party’s Punjab chief ministerial candidate Amarinder Singh and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal are trying to woo farmers of the two states with promises of farm...

-The Hindu New Delhi: A group of central ministers led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet on Thursday to discuss the proposed labour code on wages and the Small Factories Bill, barely two weeks after trade unions led a nationwide strike to express opposition to proposed labour reforms. “The group of ministers will meet on Thursday to discuss the proposed code on wages,” Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said here on the...