-The Hindu What makes public policy exciting and potentially inventive is the contested nature of the public sphere. It is anchored in a diversity of perspectives which challenges the dominance of one subject. India is a country full of paradoxes. The elite in the country are forward-looking; they emphasise the need for reskilling but they conduct all this with backward-looking institutions. An acute observer once said: "we want to be [a] knowledge...

-Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies World-renowned journalist P. Sainath has returned to Princeton to teach two courses, beginning this week, in the Program for South Asian Studies. The former rural affairs editor of The Hindu and award-winning "reporter" - he prefers the term to journalist - has devoted his career to telling the stories of India, uncovering the truth of social problems, rural affairs, poverty and the aftermath of...

-The Telegraph Shillong: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has "disapproved" of the Meghalaya government's not formulating appropriate policies and guidelines for coal mining while it found "no merit" in the government's defence for its inability to execute the tribunal's orders. "Without hesitation, we record our disapproval for the said conduct of the state of Meghalaya in not formulating appropriate policy and guidelines despite orders of the tribunal, even after lapse of a...

-Tribune India Policy shift towards market-oriented management will hit marginal farmers hard There is unfolding of the policy of the NDA government towards agriculture. Contrary to election speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government has kept quiet about the Swaminathan Commission report about fixing the MSP of agricultural commodities at cost plus 50 per cent. At the same time, the government has given indication towards reduced FCI operations. It has been...

-Down to Earth Ordinance to reform the mining sector will do more harm than good SOON AFTER President Pranab Mukherjee signed the ordinance to amend the archaic Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957, Union minister for steel and mines, Narendra Singh Tomar, announced it is a revolutionary step towards reviving the country's mining sector. His ministry highlighted that the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015 will address...