-Down to Earth Biometric-based unique identity or Aadhaar is leading to huge problems for people working for the rural Employment guarantee scheme and for others receiving welfare benefits. Not only have enrolments been done shoddily but the experience of the pilot projects shows that it is almost impossible to authenticate the work-hardened fingerprints of the poor, find Latha Jishnu and Jyotika Sood. Besides, there is the overwhelming issue of deficient online...

-The Deccan Chronicle It appears that temperamental West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is rushing to the Centre with her set of demands without checking facts. Ms Banerjee, who has been putting pressure on the Centre to bail out her debt-ridden state, had earlier shot off letters to the Planning Commission and the ministry of rural development asking why people in West Bengal had to work more to earn a day’s...

Last week, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) released its first annual monsoon forecast for June-September. Monsoons are likely to be normal with the probability of deficient or excessive monsoons being relatively low, according to IMD. If this prediction comes true, what does this really mean for India's economy? Impact on agricultural output: The first and most important impact is, of course, on agricultural production, especially in the kharif or summer season....

-PTI The Centre's move to carve out 4.5 per cent reservation for minorities would double the job opportunities for Muslim community, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said. "The 4.5 per cent reservation for minorities would increase two fold the job opportunities for Muslims, who must get their rightful share in the fruits of development," Khurshid said. The demand for reservation in Employment and education for Muslims was not a "bargaining tactic", but was...

-PTI A Parliamentary Panel on Thursday expressed concern over the "slow pace and uneven coverage" of BPL survey under the Socio Economic and Caste census-2011 (SECC). Noting that the survery under the SECC is yet to commence in the states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Manipur, the Standing Committee on Rural Development asked the government to adopt a "more action-oriented approach" including regular monitoring of the progress in co-ordination with the...