Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's strong criticism of political India for its gross neglect of elementary education over the decades has revived the debate on the quality of school education and also the scope of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 in addressing the problem of “out-of-school” children, who are estimated to number about 14 crore. Speaking at a university function recently in New Delhi, the...

A strong Lokpal Bill is necessary to fight corruption, but it cannot become a “supreme body” above Parliament with control over the legislature, executive and judiciary, Sudhakar Reddy, deputy general secretary of the national council of the Communist Party of India (CPI), has said. Speaking at the launch of the anti-corruption campaign by the Left Parties here on Saturday, Mr. Sudhakar Reddy said that participation of civil society organisations could not...

-The Hindustan Times   On Tuesday, around 60 Congress workers tried to disrupt a public meeting organised by the two Communist parties on the proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant at the City Library Hall in Ratnagiri. Congress workers waved black flags and tried to enter the venue where Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat and CPI leader D Raja were addressing the meeting. The Ratnagiri police resorted to lathi-charge...

The land problem in Singur was a turning point in the political fortunes of both the Left Front and the Trinamul Congress. The story is far from complete, and the legal twists and turns between Mamata Banerjee and the house of Tata could unfold in surprising ways. The issue of adequate compensation for farmers, who had to part with their land, is still an open question to which many well...

-The Hindu   A joint committee of krishak sabhas (farmers' organisations) of four Left Parties have given a call to their units across the State to observe “Haroa Diwas” on July 14. It would be in protest against the police firing and attacks by armed Trinamool Congress activists on Saturday on farmers and sharecroppers who had returned to their land in the Haroa area of West Bengal's North Paraganas district after having...