-The Hindu Business Line The PMUY scheme, under which the poor get subsidised LPG connection, addresses an urgent need. At the same time, it can turn out to be a political masterstroke for the BJP, write Richa Mishra and Debabrata Das The kitchen has always played an important role in Indian politics. Leaders across political parties have cooked their electoral fortunes with the kitchen as the integral ingredient. While some distributed highly...

-The Hindu Court says the practice is a disgrace for the Capital; ‘more shocking that a post-graduate is engaged in the odd job’ The Delhi High Court was left “shocked and disquieted” on Wednesday when a report furnished by the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) showed that thousands of people, including a post-graduate, were working as manual scavengers in the national Capital. Factual position The factual position revealed before a Bench headed by...

-The Hindu We need to rethink social Safety nets in India’s growing economy so that they can also focus on the accidents of life rather than solely on the accidents of birth. Sometimes the grand narratives of the Left and the Right do not seem to have any relationship with the lived experiences of ordinary Indians. For the past two decades, the Left has tried to expand social welfare programmes for the...

-The Hindu "This shows a mismatch on reporting of deaths by Railway administration to the Railway Board concerning Safety issues," the report said. A recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has blamed the Indian Railways for not providing adequate train services, leading to overcrowding and death of passengers in suburban trains. The report, released last week, noted that 33,445 people died between January 2010 and December 2014, with half the cases being...

-The Indian Express Share of Muslims in official 3.7 lakh ‘beggar’ population is disproportionately larger than the community’s share in country’s population, show Census data. Mumbai: Muslims make up 14.23% of India’s population. They are, however, nearly 25% of the 3.7 lakh individuals who have been listed as beggars by the Government of India. Activists claim that the data — released last month — on the religious orientation of those deemed ‘non workers’...