-The Hindu Indiscriminate digging of farm ponds has accelerated groundwater extraction The Maharashtra government’s flagship Jalyukt Shivar Yojana has been touted as a drought-proofing scheme, but a field study conducted by South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) gives a different picture. The organisation carried out the study at Hiwargaon-Pawasa, a backwater village with a population of 1,500, in Ahmadnagar district’s Sangamner Taluk. The research presents a microcosmic example of how...

-PTI Aadhaar number will be required for one-time registration at the IRCTC ticketing site. The railways will soon move towards Aadhaar-based online ticketing system to prevent touts from blocking bulk tickets, end fraudulent bookings and curb cases of impersonation. Aadhaar number has been made mandatory for senior citizens to avail concessions in train tickets from April 1. A three-month trial run for this is going on. As per the new business plan 2017-18, unveiled...

-The Times of India UDAIPUR: Buying rations in Kotra, a backward settlement around 125km from Udaipur, now requires a vital skill: tree-climbing. At many centres here, it is a common sight to see men and women perched on tree branches, waiting for hours for their turn to get their fingerprints and biometrics verified by the PoS (point of sale) Machines. That done, they climb down and walk back miles to the ration...

-Business Standard System in place for Aadhaar-linked payment through state but shopkeepers and consumers yet to cheer Ahmedabad: When young housewife Sarojben Rabari comes to buy rice from the Public Distribution System (PDS) shop in Ramnagar, on the northern fringes here, the shopkeeper asks her to pay by using her Aadhaar card. The woman refuses – she has neither an Aadhaar card or a bank account. She wishes to pay in cash;...

-The Times of India Going online was supposed to clean up and smoothen functioning of government schemes like the rural job guarantee scheme MGNREGS. But experience from Jharkhand's tribal districts shows that besides the chronic lack of connectivity, a brand new system of corruption has emerged. And, instead of more transparency, villagers with no knowledge of the electronic way of life are running blindly from pillar to post. Too many flip-flops...