-Economic and Political Weekly   Through a two-way process comprising text analysis of the policy framework of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme and analysis of empirical data collected through interaction with policy implementers, teachers, students, experts, etc, this article puts forth the argument that urBan education system has failed partly because of the inability of the implementers to plan, manage and facilitate the programme. Monika Banerjee (Banerjie77@gmail.com) is with the Zakir Husain Centre...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: As part of its ambitious 'Namami Gange' programme, the government plans to free all villages along the Banks of the river from open defecation by 2022 and extend incentives to states to expand sewerage infrastructure in all 118 urBan habitations along the river. Both the schemes will cost the government around Rs 52,700 crore. While Rs 51,000 crore has been earmarked for expanding the sewerage infrastructure,...

-AP United Nations: The highest rate of child marriage was in Bangladesh, where two-thirds of girls are married before age 18, followed by India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Nearly half of girls in South Asia marry before their 18th birthday as children in the region continue paying the price of persistent inequality, according to a Unicef report released on Thursday. The Unicef report said that child marriage is pervasive in South Asia even though...

-The Hindu Business Line   World Bank economist says there is ‘policy fatigue' Washington DC: Improving farm productivity is central to the Indian government's goal of achieving ‘faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth', the World Bank has said in a recent report ‘Accelerating Agricultural Productivity Growth in India - Issues and Opportunities'. Although agricultural growth rebounded after 2004-05, two worrying trends emerged: concerns about the nature and sustainability of growth, the report observes, adding...

-The Statesman Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed anguish over suicides by farmers, whose condition has not improved despite the high rate of economic growth. The reason for this distressing state of affairs is that economic policies are badly crafted. The primary effort of the Government has been to increase agricultural production. The price factor is not taken into consideration, the perception being that the farmer will be better off...