While India’s new Right to Education Act seeks to bring free and compulsory education for all children, it seems to short-change them through an unrealistic vision of the private sector’s involvement. In August 2009, the Right to Education Act was passed in the Indian Parliament with no debate, by the fewer than 60 members who happened to be attending the session that day. Not that the Act was an open-and-shut...

Batten down the hatches? Pull out all the stops? It might be difficult to find the cliché that adequately emphasises the urgency with which the government needs to tackle inflation. The worry is not just that May inflation was in double digits (10.16 per cent). It is also a fact that prices of commodities other than food are now beginning to gallop. Inflation in non-food manufactured products (often referred to...

One year after anti-Maoist operations began in this district, it is a story of mixed success. While normal life has been restored, with offices, shops and schools having re-opened, vehicles back on the roads and farmers back in the fields, an eerie calm prevails. Villagers still complain of late-night gunfights and sudden police raids keeping them up through most nights. They are haunted by fears of discovering a bullet-riddled body...

Tension prevailed in the Surya Nagar area of this Haryana district Tuesday after stray incidents of violence following a dispute between the members of the Dalit and Jat communities, police said. 'Yesterday (Monday) night a buffalo, belonging to a member of Dalit community, collided with a vehicle that was owned by a Jat youth. At that time there were some heated arguments but the situation was somehow controlled,' a police...

“A road runs through their forest home and they risk decimation by disease”  Forget all those wildlife safaris promising glimpses of lions and tigers. Some tour operators in the Andamans are offering more “exotic” fare. “Early morning proceed to Baratang Island, it is situated in the northern part of south Andaman. It takes 3 hours journey,” says the website of the Andaman Island Adventure travel company. “In between, you would cross...