-The Indian Express It is easy to see why the Unique Identity (UID) project, also known as Aadhaar, has caught the imagination of many administrators, economists and policymakers. Identity verification is a routine problem in India and Aadhaar sounds like a foolproof solution. The idea is really smart and the technology is cutting-edge. After the initial hurdle of universal enrolment, numerous applications are possible: monitoring the attendance of government employees, linking...

-Outlook Corporate karza maafi reaches new heights, social spending new lows This year's budget write-off in customs duty on gold, diamonds and jewellery (all aam aadmi items, of course) is Rs 75,592 crore. That's well over twice the "record" amount allocated to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. As Prof Jayati Ghosh points out, the MNREGA has given billions of person-days of work to tens of millions of poor...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: A study to analyze women who have undergone preventive Health check-ups across the country show that anaemia and vitamin D deficiency are rampant across different age groups. Both may lead to several ailments, ranging from mild aches and fatigue to bone diseases and even cancer. As many as 59% women were found to be anaemic in the country, with the eastern region having a significantly higher prevalence...

-The Hindu Business Line Chennai: The Fourteenth Finance Commission has formulated its recommendations without any reference to the distinction between Plan and non-Plan outlays. This will facilitate greater attention to maintenance expenditure, and reduce incentives to boost capital works and show large-sized plans, said YV Reddy, Chairman of the Commission and former Governor of the RBI. Delivering the Raja J Chelliah Memorial Lecture at the Madras School of Economics on Monday, Reddy...

-The Hindu A systematic research by SASTRA University researchers Thanjavur: Traditional tropical grass, Darbha, has been identified as an eco-friendly food preservative. This finding was evolved in a research study undertaken jointly by the Centre for Nanotechnology and Advanced Biomaterials (CeNTAB) and the Centre for Advanced Research in Indian System of Medicine (CARISM) of the SASTRA University, Thanjavur, under the supervision of Dr. P. Meera and Dr. P. Brindha respectively. Darbha (Desmotachya...