-The Hindu The insights in the NCERT cartoon report can help to make the curriculum and the classroom more inclusive While the NCERT textbooks report has generated much heat, it has also shed positive light on the issue. It is time to reflect on this side of the debate and deal with the questions it raises. The committee’s mandate was to identify educationally inappropriate materials in textbooks and suggest alternatives, if necessary. The...

-The Hindu Literacy has helped people in the State maximise the benefits of the rural employment guarantee scheme Kerala’s achievements have long been celebrated by development economists — high literacy rates, including among girls, low infant mortality rates and so on. There has also been a spate of writings highlighting the ills of Kerala society. Critics have pointed to the high rates of suicides and feminists have also raised difficult questions. While...

-The Hindu Political mobilisation along ethnic lines has played a dominant role in reinforcing group differences in Assam, with blatant disregard for the present realities of its demography For the people of Assam, the last few weeks have brought misery upon misery. No sooner had they begun to recover from the floods, than came the riots that have rendered thousands homeless in the Boro Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD). The violence has not...

-The Times of India India's official unemployment rate last year was 3.8%, data released recently by the Labour Bureau shows, but, as always, averages hide many stories. A closer look at the numbers shows that unemployment rises with education level to 10% among graduates, and higher still for backward castes. The Chandigarh-based Labour Bureau under the union ministry of labour and employment released the 'Employment and Unemployment Survey 2012' last week. The...

-The Indian Express Government must bring the assisted reproductive technologies bill to Parliament. More stringent regulation could have saved lives Sushma Pandey, just 17 years old, reportedly died due to procedures related to egg harvesting conducted on her by a fertility clinic in Mumbai. Two years after her death, the Bombay high court did well to criticise the police for not prosecuting the hospital for its flagrant violation of the age requirement...