On Thursday, April 12, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the provision in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act — better known as the Right to Education or RTE Act — that makes it compulsory for private schools (including schools that have received no cheap land, one-time subsidy or contribution to ongoing expenses from a government agency) to take in 25% pupils from poor-income backgrounds. It...
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Paribartan: Supporters turn critical of Mamata Banerjee-Atmadip Ray & Sutanuka Ghosal
Paribartan, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's rallying cry for change during last year's landmark assembly polls, seems to represent the disillusionment among her supporters more than the way the state is being governed. Several of her newfound supporters, including former Left icons who helped her acquire a certain legitimacy against the ideology-driven Communist parties, have turned critical of her government. The tide seems be turning faster since the arrest of...
More »Inside Slave City-Debarshi Dasgupta, Dola Mitra, Pushpa Iyengar, Madhavi Tata, Chandrani Banerjee & Amba Batra Bakshi
What is it that makes the Indian middle class treat their domestic help with such derision and abuse? In her nine years as a nurse working with rescued domestic workers in Delhi, Mariamma K. thought she had seen the worst. That was until 2010, when she and her colleagues went to rescue a 17-year-old girl from a home in west Delhi. Sangeeta was found with bite marks all over her body....
More »Parks, sanctuaries on mining no-go list soon-Nitin Sethi
A panel set up to review norms for no-go areas that will protect certain areas from commercial activity is likely to recommend mining should be disallowed in all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country. Sources in the government told TOI that the committee, headed by the Union environment and forests secretary, is likely to close the debate over no-go areas as it is not inclined to reassess protected areas...
More »Posco verdict: Finally, environmental justice in India by Janaki Lenin
So what if it was the largest-ever FDI in India? The law finally caught up with it on 30 March 2012, when the National Green Tribunal suspended POSCO’s environmental clearance and ordered a fresh review. We can celebrate the outcome in this day and cynical age: It is still possible, though not easy, to get environmental justice in this country. Since June 2005, when the agreement between the Government of Orissa...
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