-The Telegraph Calcutta: The Bengal budget has proposed a grant of Rs 50,000 each to 50,000 migrant workers who were forced to return from other states because of demonetisation. By announcing the first such scheme in the country, the Mamata Banerjee government has beaten to the draw the Narendra Modi dispensation. Speculation had swirled around the Modi government that it might share the "gains of demonetisation" with the people through direct deposits...

-The Indian Express CBSE’s decision to make Class X board exam compulsory upturns a modest reform of school education Once upon a time, when India was a colony, the matriculation exam marked the end of “high” school education. It served as the gateway for higher education at a college. The Latin root of the verb ‘to matriculate’ means getting enlisted in a college. Not everybody could aspire for higher education, but even...

-The Economic Times BENGALURU: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s pro-farmer pro-rural budget has largely got a thumbs down from farm activists and agriculture experts in Karnataka, a state with 91 percent of its area reeling under severe drought and a rural economy collapse post-demonetisation. The state’s current agriculture growth rate, despite the drought, is an estimated 4.2 per cent, marginally higher than the 4.1 per cent that Jaitley has projected for the country....

-Livemint.com RBI’s testimony to parliamentary panel shows the bank had warned the government of possible inconvenience to the public for some time New Delhi/ Mumbai: India pushed ahead with its decision to demonetise high-value banknotes even as the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) own board expressed concern whether the cash could be replaced quickly enough, the central bank has said in written testimony to parliament. The revelation comes amid growing criticism about whether...

-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court observed on Thursday that the statements of some witnesses and the recovery of women's undergarments indicate that rapes had taken place at Murthal during the Jat quota protests in February 2016. The court asked the state police special investigation team to find the culprits to instill confidence in the public. A division bench made these observations in open court. The judges also...