–PTI Chaibasa (Jharkhand): Maoists are taking away foodgrains meant for mid-day meals in schools and the public distribution system, and even controlling projects under MGNREGS in Naxal-affected areas of West Singhbhum district, a senior police officer said on Saturday. This was revealed during interrogation of an arrested hard-core Maoist, identified as Cherwa, said Superintendent of Police Pankaj Kamboj. Cherwa is an influential man in the area and a member of the management committee...

-The Business Standard Railway engineers would help gram panchayats in developing estimates of the work and in training workers Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal today announced a partnership between Indian Railways and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in his budget speech. "I thank (Minister of Rural Development) Jairam Ramesh for agreeing to the railways' request to partner in some of the rail-related activities under MGNREGS," he said. Bansal...

-The Telegraph The world lauds us as the largest democracy. Yet, how much of a democracy are we and where must we improve? Elections and their consequences: We have regular elections. They are supervised with increasing effectiveness as far as booth capturing, bogus voters and violence are concerned. The influence of money has not waned; if anything, it has increased. It is not as it used to be, for paying voters only....

-Counter Currents The Aadhaar scheme of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is to provide India's billion-plus people with a unique identification number. Enrolling into the scheme was and still is not mandatory, though it was mentioned that it would be difficult for people to access public services in the absence of enrolment. The scheme requires individuals to provide their photograph, fingerprints and iris scan together with documentary personal information,...

-Hard News Media Despite the high economic growth, India has the highest proportion of malnourished children in the world. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and others gathered at IIT Delhi to discuss the Food Security Bill The jam packed Dogra auditorium of IIT Delhi was a testimony to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s popularity amongst students, teachers, activists, economists, among others who had congregated to hear him talk on the...