Students at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore raised questions on the huge cost of the newly-launched unique identification project, the security of the system and what was being done to prevent its possible misuse, but they got no clear answer In the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) that I graduated from way back in 1983, dialogue and debate were the essence of true talent. Those who were revered most...
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Pawar refuses to be drawn into food Bill controversy by Sanjay Jog
Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has declined to be dragged into the controversy surrounding the implementation of the food security Bill. The move assumes significance in the wake of the differences between Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) and the Rangarajan committee. Pawar said his ministry was ready to implement the Bill according to the decision taken by the government. On a visit to the state-of-the-art Gowardhan dairy at Manchar,...
More »‘Six per cent girls in Rural India still out of school'
About 6 per cent of girls in the 11-14 age group in Rural India are still out of school, according to findings of the Annual Status of Education Report-2010 facilitated by the non-government organisation Pratham. This percentage is lesser than the 2009 figure of 6.8 per cent. The report, which is the largest annual survey of children in Rural India, was released by Vice-President Hamid Ansari here. Mr. Ansari said that...
More »The Criminalization of Dissent by Prabhat Patnaik
While there will be general agreement that the judgement in Binayak Sen's case represents a gross miscarriage of justice, most people will attribute it to the overzealousness of a lower judicial functionary, or, at the most, to the prevailing atmosphere in the state of Chhattisgarh. If the trial had been held elsewhere, they would argue, Binayak would not have got the verdict he did. They are probably right, just as...
More »If villagers won't go to town, town will come to villagers by Aman Sethi
Chhattisgarh tribals punished for exercising rights under Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act It was unconstitutional, violation of PESA, says petition It was pushed by local administration, politicians to set up thermal power plant One morning in March 2010, residents of Premnagar awoke to discover they were villagers no more. An administrative notification had dissolved Premnagar's village council or gram panchayat and replaced it with a city council or nagar panchayat. Unbeknownst to...
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