-The Indian Express Exclusion and denial of benefits to the poor needs urgent attention The news last month of the starvation death of an 11-year-old girl in the Simdega district in Jharkhand, allegedly because of denial of PDS ration due to Aadhaar linking problems, is appalling. The Aadhaar ecosystem definitely needs to pass a stringent welfare test much more crucially than the privacy test. Aadhaar undeniably has potential, and can perhaps even be...

-The Indian Express Discussions on IFPRI’s Hunger Index illustrate the complexity of India’s malnutrition problem. Solutions must focus on Evidence, accountability. India’s ranking in the International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI’s) 2017 Global Hunger Index has invited much comment and criticism among India’s intellectual elite. India has slipped to 100 among 119 countries in the 2017 Global Hunger Index, down from 97 among the 118 countries in 2016. Fortunately, the Government of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A group of Indian doctors has urged the Narendra Modi government to resist any US government or industry pressure to reverse its decisions earlier this year to impose price caps on coronary stents and knee implants. The Association of Doctors for Ethical Practices (ADEH) said on Wednesday that it is hoping the Indian government will "remain firm" on its decision to cap the prices of the devices because...

-Newsclick.in The report points out to the growing inequality in education in India. “While the gap in access to higher education remains large, the gap in access to institutions of good quality is pronounced, and very dependent on ability to pay.” UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report which came out this week points out to the various problems in the education system in India. The report calls high stakes tests and tuition as...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed all the states and Union territories to set up special centres to record the statements of blind, deaf or mute witnesses so that people accused of crimes cannot get away citing improper examination of such witnesses. The bench of Justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit passed the recent order while reversing the acquittal of a Maharashtra resident who had raped a 14-year-old deaf...