-The Indian Express The bullet train project, kicked off after discussions between PM Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, is being built with a Rs 88,000-crore soft loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Mumbai: EARLY this month, Raghunath Sutar (32), a Warli tribal from Dahanu taluka in Palghar district, was at the office of the district collector when his neighbours in Sakhare village sent him WhatsApp messages and...

-TheWire.in Figures highlighted in an RTI reply cut to the heart of a debate over the government’s assertion to count Mudra loan beneficiaries as employed. New Delhi: Struggling to deliver on the poll promise to create one crore jobs a year, the Narendra Modi government and the BJP may have found a face-saver in the flagship self-employment Mudra scheme, launched under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) in 2015. However, three years in,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: After Dwarka, a cooperative housing society in east Delhi has now gone solar. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated a 140 kWp solar PV plant at Milan Vihar cooperative society in IP Extension on Sunday. According to officials, the plant will generate 1.7 lakh units in a year and the society will earn Rs 3.4 lakh per year as generation-based incentive. Sources said many other housing societies...

-The Hindu Social audits ensure a citizen-centric mode of accountability The breakdown of Institutions has underlined the fact that democracy — and especially public funds — need eternal public vigilance. But in India, the elites close ranks to neutralise voices of dissent and alarm, thus preventing public vigilance. Democratic governance needs the citizen to be legally empowered to ask questions, file complaints, and be a part of the corrective process. Social audits, as...

-The Hindu Guidebook covers essential topics, from working with abused children to forms that NGOs need to fill Mumbai: A ready reckoner for people working with children who are victims of sexual abuse, trafficking and other crimes is out. The compendium, published by the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR) in collaboration with non-governmental organisations International Justice Mission (IJM), Prerana and UNICEF, lists ways to sensitively handle ‘children in...