-The Hindu Applications for various services can be submitted online Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Information Technology Mission (KSITM) is gearing up for a State-wide roll out of e-district Kerala, a mission mode project under the national e-governance plan. District e-governance committees have been formed in all the 14 districts. As many as 10-lakh digital certificates have been issued to applicants in less than two years since the launch of the pilot project in...

-The Hindu Kerala’s Kudumbashree network and the rural employment guarantee scheme have converged to provide a unique model of empowerment An incredible story of empowerment has been unfolding in the wake of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) programme in the State of Kerala. This is the story of how a socially engineered convergence of the scheme with panchayati raj institutions and the State sponsored community network of poor...

-The Indian Express How can an overwhelmingly young India be well served by its ageing political leaders? The UPA government has touted its cabinet reshuffle as a much-needed infusion of youth and vibrancy. While it is easy to get caught up in government talking points, the facts speak otherwise: as India’s population is getting younger, its political elites are bucking the trend. India is increasingly exhibiting all the hallmarks of a gerontocracy...

-The Telegraph Private universities have mushroomed across India, growing from just 10 six years ago to 145 today in a demand-driven surge that has drawn allegations of irregularities, including franchising out courses in violation of rules. Several academics have also questioned the standard of education in most of these varsities, set up by state legislatures through enactment of laws. “Private universities are created by state legislatures so the Government of India has no...

-The Hindustan Times India contributes more hungry people to the world each year than all other countries put together, and despite efforts, new figures suggest that hunger is far from contained - in fact we are worse off than we were more than a decade ago. According to the Global Hunger Index 2012, recently released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). India's rating was 22.6 in '96, 24.2 in '01...