-The Times of India In an important reversal of stand, the Centre has admitted that the Right to Education Act doesn't allow home schooling. Admitting that the earlier stand was incorrect, the Centre last week urged Delhi high court to permit it to file a fresh affidavit clarifying its stand in respect of home schooling vis-a-vis the RTE Act. The U-turn by the Centre came on a petition filed by a student who...
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Guess who paid for Vadra’s Bikaner land? DLF again by Vivek Kaul
-Firstpost.com The floodgates seem to have opened when it comes to news reporting on Robert Vadra and his real estate dealings. DNA today reported that “In a flurry of deals between June 2009 and August 2011, Robert Vadra purchased at least 20 plots of land collectively measuring more than 770 hectares in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district, in a region that would see prices SPIRaling soon after.” According to the newspaper, “A clutch of...
More »Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey, RTI activists interviewed by Vidya Subrahmaniam
-The Hindu A recent Supreme Court judgment and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s openly expressed views in favour of privacy have raised concerns that attempts are being made to dilute the SPIRit of the RTI Act and limit its use. Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey, the RTI’s movement’s leading lights, share their worries with Vidya Subrahmaniam. * Seven years after its enactment, has the RTI Act even partially fulfilled its objectives? Has it...
More »Muddling along is no longer an option-Shyam Saran
-The Business Standard The default approach to reform - minimalistic and confused - will lead India into crisis It is encouraging that the Planning Commission has undertaken an innovative exercise in scenario building for the country as part of the Approach to the 12th Five-Year Plan. The results are available in a document titled “Scenarios: Shaping India’s Future”, which can be found on the Planning Commission’s website. The merit of the document...
More »Capped: subsidised theft of cooking gas -Sambit Saha
-The Telegraph Calcutta: Demand for commercial gas has risen sharply in Bengal, prompting suggestions that the subsidy cap on domestic cylinders has unmasked one of the worst-kept secrets in the country. The sudden spurt is being attributed to demand from commercial establishments and auto-rickshaws that were so far depending heavily on the subsidised cooking gas rampantly pilfered from the domestic segment. “We have been selling 6,000 (commercial) cylinders a day (to establishments) after...
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