-Livemint.com In 1986, Italian journalist Carlo Petrini was outraged when McDonald’s opened its first outlet in Rome. He saw this as a threat to Italy’s culinary culture. He led a protest against the global industrialization of food, which culminated in the slow food movement. Starting in Rome, the movement is now a worldwide phenomenon. Edited excerpts from an interview at the Indigenous Terra Madre in Shillong: * What are the key achievements...

-The Hindu Tactile books with maps and diagrams for visually challenged students will become a reality soon with the National Council of Educational Research and Training introducing them in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. So far, books in Braille had no maps and diagrams. The NCERT is seeking suggestions from the States before it can start the process. “The exercise calls for a special training for teachers, but we...

-The Times of India PATNA: Will Bihar be able to achieve the national target of raising gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education to 30% by 2020? As per indications, it seems impossible. Less than 1% of state's population is enrolled for higher education. The total number of boys and girls admitted in 250 constituent colleges and 350 affiliated colleges under 13 universities of the state is less than eight lakh against...

-Economic and Political Weekly Chennai floods show the vulnerabilities that arise from the neglect of urban planning. In the second week of November, flood-marooned people in Chennai had an unlikely Good Samaritan. The cab service provider, Ola. As the city struggled to come to terms with its highest rainfall in 10 years, the cab company pressed in boats from an aquatic adventure outfit and secured the services of professional rowers and fishworkers...

Agricultural insurance is supposed to protect farmers from financial hardships and risks when crop losses and damage takes place due to extreme weather events such as drought, cyclone, hailstorms, flood etc. However, in reality this does not hold true in India. Due to the failure of crop insurance schemes in India, there has been a deepening of agrarian crisis and rural distress in the recent times, particularly in the backdrop of...