-The indian Express To fulfil the constitutional requirement, reservation must be based on a rigorous identification of economic backwardness. The introduction of the 124th constitutional amendment that provides the possibility of quotas for the “economically weaker sections” (EWS) has rekindled the debate on reservations. These quotas diverge from reservation policies for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other socially and educationally backward classes, by jettisoning caste or community identity as the...

-The Hindu Business Line Climate change and other agrarian distress are forcing the farming community to scrounge for a living outside its comfort zone The work I do — editing the work of journalists reporting on water issues in the Himalayan region — gives me a close-up of how climate change is disrupting agriculture. Almost 80 per cent of water usage in india, and most of its neighbouring countries, is for agriculture....

-The Times of india BENGALURU: Central government officials are scrambling to compile information about vacancies in their departments and ministries and steps taken to fill posts following instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office. The move follows the opposition’s accusations that the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have failed in not only creating jobs but also filling up existing vacancies. The instruction has resulted in ministries and departments issuing internal circulars seeking...

-Down to Earth The new government has to focus on the rural population, their aspirations and the economy By this time most of us know Sunaina Rawat. Still a brief introduction: she is a 12-year-old girl from a village in Uttar Pradesh. When the news channel NDTV’s head Prannoy Roy interviewed her on life and aspirations while covering elections, she immediately became one of the most imposing symbol for the country’s rural...

-The indian Express The Sainis, who have grown brinjal on three kanals (less than half-an-acre) of rented land, are at the centre of a brewing storm over the “use of Bt brinjal” or other genetically modified crop in Haryana. Fatehabad: “WHAT CRIME have we committed?” asks Miro Rani, the fear visible on her face. Rani, 50, is the wife of Ishar Saini, a 62-year-old brinjal farmer near Ratia town in Fatehabad. Advertising The...