-The Hindu Instruments that permit people to vote directly on policy and to initiate legislation can ensure that the citizen’s voice is heard   Independent India has been a large-scale experiment in democracy. Unlike many other nations that gained independence from colonial rule but descended into dictatorships and military rule, India has remained a democracy, despite its size and diversity. While we pride ourselves on this achievement, we also need to reflect more...

-The Telegraph India is watching three Dutch and Danish non-government organisations that have allegedly “cultivated” voluntary organisations in the Northeast to gather data for anti-India reports to be presented to the United Nations. Officials of these foreign agencies may face visa restrictions too. Reports prepared by voluntary organisations on human rights violations by the security forces in India’s northeastern states, particularly Manipur, have become “base material” for reports to the UN that are...

-The Times of India India's official unemployment rate last year was 3.8%, data released recently by the Labour Bureau shows, but, as always, averages hide many stories. A closer look at the numbers shows that unemployment rises with education level to 10% among graduates, and higher still for backward castes. The Chandigarh-based Labour Bureau under the union ministry of labour and employment released the 'Employment and Unemployment Survey 2012' last week. The...

Universities should not have to bow to research institutes, writes Debashis Gangopadhyay. Basic Sciences versus Applied Sciences Undermining humanities studies in schools will lead to a large number of science graduates in the market. This is a boon for multinational companies as profits will escalate — the cost of labour being lower. However, the danger to profits persist from another aspect. Students who study science out of their love for a subject are...

-The Times of India India is all set to weed out and check the ever mushrooming clinics involved in renting a womb or carrying out Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).  The Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, prepared by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), will make it mandatory for all clinics involved in treating infertility through procedures like artificial insemination with husband's semen (AIH) or in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF) to get registered...