-The Indian Express The protests in Delhi are generating two sorts of anxiety. The spectacle of a spontaneous, unstructured, unavoidably vague movement borne out of genuine rage has unsettled the establishment. And it will respond the way it does: by recourse to the language of order. The second is a critique that the movement is misdirected: it is blaming government for what is, in fact, a deep social problem. It is...

-DNA Social networking sites are abuzz with the cry of death penalty for the accused of the Delhi gang rape case. However, the major sections applied in the case, which include 376 (2) (G) (gang rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 307 (attempt to murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) read with 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, will attract a maximum punishment of life imprisonment for the accused. The sessions court,...

-Outlook In the backdrop of the brutal rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student in the city, the Indian Women's Press Corps today met Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and demanded systemic and institutional interventions to check the rising crimes against women in the capital. A four-member delegation of the IWPC comprising president T K Rajalakshmi, general secretary Mannika Chopra, vice president Shobhna Jain and senior columnist Neerja Chowdhury met the CM and submitted...

-The Times of India The Right to Education Act (RTE) mandates that every child has the fundamental right to free and compulsory elementary education in India. March 31, 2013, is the deadline set for full implementation of the Act. However, several challenges need to be overcome, especially to provide education for children in areas of conflict.  In the Indian context, three regions experience varying degrees of conflict - Maoist-affected areas, Jammu and...

We are providing below the revised version of the above mentioned article (in pdf), which was originally published in Outlook, 14 November, 2011 Is India doing marvellously well, or is it failing terribly? Depending on whom you speak to, you could pick up either of those answers with some frequency. One story, very popular among a minority – but a large enough group - of Indians who are doing very well...