-The Indian Express It is best read as a political promise for social security. There is more than one way of redeeming it Guaranteed minimum income is a powerful idea that has already made some headway in various countries. Some European countries, for instance, guarantee a minimum income to their citizens. This requires extensive data collection as well as an effective cadre of welfare officers and social workers tasked with enquiring...

-The Indian Express Stop filers are individuals who filed returns in earlier years but did not do so in the current year even though they are liable to do so. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Thursday said it “does not have any word ‘Stop Filers’ in its glossary and it does not maintain any database of ‘Stop Filers’ in normal course”. This was in response to the April 4 report...

-The Hindu Governments can provide direct cash transfers while creating conditions for employment With the Congress promising through the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) scheme ?6,000 every month to the poorest 20% of households if voted to power, Mahendra Dev and Pronab Sen talk of the importance and problems of direct cash transfers. Providing social protection is important even as governments try to create conditions for income-generating activities, they say in a discussion...

-Hindustan Times Farming must become sustainable since agriculturists are struggling to build resilience against many threats I spent international women’s day in Mangalagiri, in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, with Usha Rani. As a single mother for 17 years, she has raised two children (now in second-year college and in high school). Three years ago, she switched to natural farming. On less than half an acre, she practises multicropping, growing maize, banana,...

-The Hindu Study says children from lower income background had weaker brain activity Children born into poverty show key differences in early brain function, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). Researchers studied the brain function of children aged between four months and four years in rural India and found that children from lower income backgrounds, where mothers also had a low level of education, had weaker brain activity...