-The Hindu Where the citizen-government gap is bridged by using the RTI Act for administrative reforms April 18, 2014 is a day the shepherds around Budgam town near Srinagar will not forget. This was the day when Tosa Maidan — a vast pasture that shepherds from seven districts traditionally grazed their livestock in — was reclaimed from the Indian Army. Leased out to the Army in 1964, Tosa Maidan or ‘the king of...

-The Telegraph Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Many a fear has been expressed over the potential misuse of the Aadhaar card, ranging from privacy violation to online looting to suppression of dissent. Now, a headmaster in Uttar Pradesh has been accused of opening an unforeseen flank by showing the door to 17 pupils on the pretext that they hadn't submitted their Aadhaar numbers. Rajesh Kumar, the headmaster of the government-run Laltapur Primary School in Chandauli...

-Deccan Herald Punjab, the food bowl of the country, is faced with a paradox of plenty. Ever since the launch of the Green Revolution in 1966, Punjab has been producing a record grain surplus year after year. Yet, over the years, it has turned into a graveyard for its farmers. There is hardly a day when reports of farmers committing suicide do not appear in Punjab newspapers. Take a look at the...

-TheWire.in Studies from Chhattisgarh and other states show that most private hospitals force people to pay additional money even after using health insurance. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) or the National Health Insurance Scheme, was initiated in Chhattisgarh in 2009 for below poverty line (BPL) families. In 2012, Chhattisgarh expanded the scheme to non-BPL families as well, through the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana (MSBY), making it a universal scheme. Under the...

-Newsclick.in An average urban family suffers from chronic undernutrition, with its food consumption deficient in protein, energy, and important vitamins and minerals. A recently released report on the Nutritional Status of Urban Population by National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB), throws light on the chronic undernutrition faced by India’s urban population, particularly the urban poor. The report compares the average consumption of different food groups by the urban population, to the scientifically calculated Required...