-The Hindu Teachers, Anganwadi workers speak out against Centre’s decision Jaipur: Teachers and Anganwadi workers in Rajasthan have spoken out against the Centre's recent decision to link the midday meal scheme to Aadhaar, saying it would completely disrupt the process of food distribution and teaching and learning. They said it would create an “inhuman culture” where children would be denied food due to exclusion through biometrics. While responding to queries of the Right to...

-India Today Commonly grown in Assam, the Black Rice (Kala chavul) is an exotic variety with amazing nutritional parameters like anti-oxidant, minerals, carbohydrates and fibre but the growers lacked the market. Chandigarh: The northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim are a veritable goldmine of organic foodgrains, herbs, spices and fruits. Despite the uniqueness and amazing health benefits, these foodgrains and herbs remain confined to these states as...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Cash seizures from the five states that voted in February-March were more than three times the amount seized during the 2012 elections in these states, despite the post-demonetisation limits on cash withdrawals. The rise of the seizures from Rs 50.78 crore in 2012 to Rs 184.85 crore challenges the government's claim that the note recall would cleanse India of the "cancer of corruption". Liquor, drugs and precious metals too...

-Livemint.com Aadhaar’s designers promised a robust privacy legislation, but the current government’s stance is that Indians have no fundamental right to privacy To govern India is to be constantly overwhelmed. So much needs to be done, and there’s so little to do it with. It’s hardly surprising that the Indian state is rarely ambitious. It seeks to manage, not to transform. One recent government initiative, less than a decade old, is by contrast...

-Hindustan Times The last few weeks have seen a spate of government notifications making Aadhaar mandatory for receiving the benefits of government programmes. The most recent orders relate to an Aadhaar requirement for children to access schools (even under their fundamental right to education), mid-day meals, supplementary nutrition (ICDS) and scholarships. These directives raise a number of ethical as well as practical questions, besides violating children’s right to education, nutrition and...