-The Times of India GURUGRAM: They had given up their land in hope that the local economy would develop and create jobs that would sustain livelihoods not only for them but the next generation. Fourteen years on, no industrial project has come up on the nearly 1,600 acres of land, a massive sprawl across the villages of Gadoli Khurd, Harsaru, Khandsa, Mohammadpur and Narsinghpur, acquired by the government, farming does not happen...

-The Hindu The political scientist on the danger to India’s checks and balances, and the perils of the democratisation of mediocrity in universities Professor of political science and a holder of the Madan Lal Sobti Chair, Devesh Kapur has been director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary India at University of Pennsylvania since 2006. Mr. Kapur, who recently co-edited Public Institutions in India: Performance and Design, says our public universities...

-The Hindu BJP lists ‘pro-farmer’ steps; govt. blind to problems: Digvijaya Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha sought to corner the Centre on the issue of agrarian crisis on Tuesday, accusing it of floating policies that were detrimental to farmers’ interests. However, defending the Narendra Modi government, members from the BJP and its allies hailed the “pro-farmer” initiatives taken under his leadership. Prabhat Jha, Parshottam Rupala, Ram Narain Dudi, Sanjay Raut and La....

-The Hindu Strengthening the repayment capacity of farmers by improving and stabilising their income is the only way to keep them out of distress Indian agriculture is characterised by low scale and low productivity. About 85% of the operational landholdings in the country are below 5 acres and 67% farm households survive on an average landholding of one acre. More than half of the area under cultivation does not have access to...

-Hindustan Times The management of TRS School came up with the initiative on Thursday and named it ‘Ganga Maa Ki Rasoi’. The school also launched two other schemes — computer education for the deprived section and a free stitching training centre for women. In a first-of-its-kind initiative, a private school in Sector 100, which has over 200 underprivileged children enrolled with it, launched a midday meal scheme for the students and...