The Delhi government has cancelled over 45,000 ration cards and is considering using artificial intelligence to identify ineligible beneficiaries in its public distribution system.
A large number of voter ID, Aadhaar, and ration cards were allegedly recovered from a TMC office in Kolkata's Tangra area. BJP workers claim the cards were deliberately kept to prevent people from voting.
The CBI has arrested an assistant commissioner of the Food and Supply Department in Delhi for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 for the allotment and distribution of ration cards.
The Maharashtra government has embarked on an ambitious plan to issue computerised, barcode-based ration cards within the next eight months in a bid to overhaul the operations of the Public Distribution System. Spanco Telesystems and Solutions Ltd, a leading systems integration and business process outsourcing companies has bagged from the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection department to execute this plan.
The Supreme Court of India has upheld the Election Commission's documentation framework for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, affirming the commission's authority and stating that Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship.
BJP leader K Surendran has alleged that organised networks are helping Bangladeshi nationals obtain fake identity documents in Kerala, including Aadhaar and ration cards. He warned of a serious challenge if unchecked and called for urgent measures to distinguish genuine migrant workers from illegal infiltrators.
PDS: Smart ration cards need to be smarter
The Bombay high court on Tuesday suggested to the Maharashtra government to consider linking ration cards with the newly introduced Aadhar cards so as to weed out bogus and duplicate ration cards in the state.
The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Centre and States regarding a plea alleging the misuse of Aadhaar cards as proof of citizenship, domicile, and residential address. The petition argues that despite legal provisions, Aadhaar is being used for purposes beyond identity verification, potentially aiding illegal immigrants, and calls for a comprehensive overhaul of electoral verification processes.
The apex court, hearing a plea that has raised the problems faced by sex workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been passing orders for their welfare and on September 29 last year, it had asked the Centre and others to provide dry ration to them without insisting on their identity proof.
The Enforcement Directorate has uncovered a sophisticated organ trafficking racket in Kerala, operating under the guise of a medical tourism company. The network exploited financially distressed donors, forging documents and facilitating illegal transplant procedures at major hospitals, leading to arrests and freezing of assets.
The move is being planned with a view to ensuring that the benefits provided by the government reach the beneficiaries and the process remains transparent.
Amid the arithmetic of subsidies, consumption and capacity, whichever government assumes office in Tamil Nadu after May 4 is likely to inherit a growing debate over how far the state can continue to expand welfare promises without placing additional strain on public finances and the power sector.
Taking strong note of reports of some Pakistanis here availing facilities at par with Indian nationals and getting voter I-cards made in their names, the district administration has ordered a thorough probe.
'Unfortunately, today most ministers are busy with either election duty or praising duty. They are not interested in serving duty.' 'Ministers have become relaxed like retired people still holding onto jobs.' 'Look at how the NEET paper leaked. But there is no accountability.' 'After 12 years, they have become saturated. They are short of ideas.'
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal has accused the BJP of conspiring to delete 2.7 million voters from West Bengal's electoral rolls, urging support for the Trinamool Congress to protect citizenship rights.
India possesses two months of fuel stockpiles and faces no supply concerns despite global energy disruptions, according to Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. However, state-run fuel retailers are incurring losses of up to Rs 1 lakh crore in a single quarter due to elevated crude prices and unchanged retail fuel prices, raising questions about the sustainability of these losses.
Thousands of West Bengal residents whose names were deleted from electoral rolls are awaiting decisions from tribunals, the final recourse after initial appeals were rejected. The fate of around 2.3 million people hinges on these adjudications, raising concerns about voting rights and citizenship.
The quality of the series of JioHotstar's new microcontent platform, Tadka, is deplorable. When so much superior content is being created with the help of AI, Tadka shows are taking the content back to the tacky early days of television, both in the plots and subpar production values, observes Deepa Gahlot.
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a series of welfare measures, including free refrigerators for rice ration cardholders, if the party wins the 2026 Assembly election in Tamil Nadu.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has refuted claims by the opposition regarding the cancellation of old-age pensions, calling them baseless and politically motivated. He assured that the government is verifying discrepancies to ensure only eligible beneficiaries receive pensions and highlighted the increase in pension amounts and the number of beneficiaries under the current regime.
'Look at the way SIR that was implemented in Bengal. They wanted to entirely curate the voter list in order to suit their purposes and victory.' 'Look at the targeted deletions and the targeted voting list.' 'The difference between the TMC and the BJP was only about 4% but that 4% vote was done so selectively that the difference ultimately showed up as 100 seats!'
Senior Congress functionary Praveen Chakravarty has questioned the DMK's flagship women's assistance scheme, suggesting it's superstitious to believe it alone will ensure electoral success, citing examples of similar schemes failing to secure victories for other parties.
The ruling comes against the backdrop of an intensified anti-encroachment campaign launched by the Assam government since May 2021.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of playing the 'victim card' and pushing the state towards destruction. He promised to end the TMC's 'syndicate raj' and ensure justice for women if the BJP is voted to power.
Over the past three years, the appointments of 20 candidates selected through the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection were cancelled or offers were withdrawn due to poor credit history.
Underscoring the 'presumption of genuineness' of Aadhaar and voter ID, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the publication of draft electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar and said it would once and for all decide pleas against Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
After being wrongly deported and labelled as Bangladeshis, migrant workers in West Bengal's Murshidabad are heading to the polls to reclaim their Indian identity and fight for their right to belong.
The central government has provided armed security to West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer following potential threats related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Hearings under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were underway in West Bengal, focusing on 'unmapped' voters who are unable to establish linkage with the 2002 electoral roll. Many people are being asked to prove their citizenship.
Authorities in Kashmir have initiated a profiling process of mosques, madrassas, and individuals associated with their management following the exposure of a 'white collar' terror module. The enumeration drive focuses on the finances of these institutions and the backgrounds of their personnel.
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
As Bihar goes to the polls in two weeks, locals speak about what the election means to them in the shadow of a devastating flood in Saran, Bihar.
By all available indications, the White House drafted a face-saving note and handed it, ready-made, to Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was supposed to then post it in the guise of a plea urging Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks 'to allow diplomacy to run its course'. Trump would then graciously accept Pakistan's 'request' and declare a ceasefire. Sharif dutifully posted the message on X. Except that he, or whoever was handling the account, forgot to delete the tell-tale first line visible in the edit history: 'Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X'. Prem Panicker's must read blog on the Iran War.
'40 percent of voters in Bihar will be excluded.'
'There is no shortage of fuel whatsoever.' 'India is stock surplus as far as petrol and diesel are concerned.'
Top Maoist leader Ganesh Uike and five other red rebels were killed in gun battles with security forces in Odisha's Kandhamal district.
Hardworking people who toil from dawn to dusk and beyond speak about their everyday lives and what they want from the sarkar as Bihar prepares to vote.
The Election Commission of India defends its Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, stating it enhances election purity by removing ineligible voters. The commission addresses concerns about Aadhaar usage, emphasizing its limited role in identity verification during the SIR-2025 exercise.
The certificate of residence was issued last week in Masaurhi circle, falling under the eponymous sub-division, apparently as part of a scramble for such documents during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
