-The Hindu Important bills were passed; but going forward there must be debate on the anti-defection law The 16th Lok Sabha had its final sitting last Wednesday, marking an end to a disappointing five-year period. This Lok Sabha was surpassed only by the preceding one in terms of the low number of hours it worked. It met for 1,615 hours, 40% lower than all full-term Parliaments. This shows a decline in the...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Social media's election plan: Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp want to bring transparency -Furquan Ameen
-The Telegraph The internet giants want to tackle fake news and surface details on political ads, but will it work? She's Twittersphere’s newest star. Last week, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra joined Twitter and within 24 hours, racked up 160,000 followers. Of course, Priyanka’s nowhere near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 45-million-plus followers. But she and former Uttar Pradesh chief Mayawati, the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo who’s another Twitter newcomer, are notching up Twitter followers...
More »Rash U-turns, half-baked plans -Jean Dreze
-The Indian Express Social policy is in danger of getting lost in electoral histrionics. As the country inches towards parliamentary elections, a deep confusion pervades the realm of social policy. When the Narendra Modi government came to power five years ago, there were high expectations of a rollback in welfare schemes. The previous government, so went the story, had gone overboard with social spending, and Modi would set this right. In...
More »What Adivasis of Odisha Could Teach Urban Indians in the Age of #Metoo -Parul Abrol
-TheWire.in The community has a traditional approach to sex education and finding a partner. The key is openness, conversation and guidance. Rayagada, Odisha: In his village of Singoroda, 80-year old Langi Nathika commands great respect – mostly as the husband of a bejuni, a priestess in their Kondh tribe. Like many in his community, Nathika cherishes their traditional approach to sex education and finding a partner. He may have something for us to...
More »Casting the Net: India's Public Distribution System after the Food Security Act -Jean Dreze, Prankur Gupta, Reetika Khera and Isabel Pimenta
-Economic and Political Weekly A broad-brush assessment of the public distribution system is presented in six of India’s poorest states—Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal—soon after the National Food Security Act, 2013 came into force. Important gains have been made, including broader coverage, lower targeting errors, accelerated PDS reforms, and a greater political commitment to food security. In four of the six reference states, the PDS seems to...
More »