-The Hindu Regulating content on community radio is detrimental to its efforts to engage with local communities The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB) organised the 3rd National Community Radio Sammelan from February 9 to 11 to celebrate a decade of community radio. The celebrations were cut short when Secretary to MoIB Uday Kumar Varma confirmed that community radio stations would not be allowed to broadcast news for some time to come....

-Frontline Social development indicators in Gujarat are poor, proving that development in the State is lopsided On a hot day last November near Rajkot, Ramjibhai Patel, an octogenarian farmer, pointed to the middle distance and said, “See that lake?” There was indeed a shimmer in the dry landscape indicating water, but after a relatively poor monsoon, it seemed improbable. Chuckling, he said, “Yes, I see doubt on your face and you are...

-The Hindu India’s infrastructure is bursting at the seams, unable to cope with the pressure from the growing economy. Developing the sector will help to create jobs and result in higher economic growth The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is likely to grow 5.5 per cent and the economic slowdown shows no sign of halting. India’s infrastructure is bursting at the seams, unable to cope with the pressure from the growing economy. Spurring...

-The Times of India How much would it cost the central government to provide grain to the whole country at affordable prices? A calculation by the Delhi-based advocacy group Centre for Budget & Governance Accountability (CBGA) puts the figure at Rs 2,38,471 crore for one year. In the current financial year (2012-13), the Centre spent Rs 75,366 crore on the food subsidy, that is, about 0.74% of the gross domestic product....

-The Times of India To remove various disadvantages that women face in India, the Union government introduced Gender Responsive Budgeting (or Gender Budgeting) in 2005-06. It meant that high-flying promises on empowering women were to be backed by financial outlays and that a gender perspective was to imbue all policy making. It was always a tough call - from the home, to the workplace and generally in society women are treated like...