-DNA The Delhi government released an outcome report of its ambitious 'Mission Buniyaad Scheme' claiming that the learning ability of government school students has improved significantly over the past years, with 63 per cent of children in classes 3 to 9 is now able to read their textbooks. According to the National Achievement Survey 2017 published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), only 48 per cent Delhi government...

-The Indian Express Poor quality government schools make higher education out of reach for non-elite . That’s the real problem, not public-funded universities. In his article, ‘Let the elite pay’ (IE, June 23), Surjit Bhalla argues for the continuation of the highly discriminatory school and higher education systems that already provide education to most on the basis of ability to pay. He acknowledges that “children of the poorest of the poor”do not...

-Hindustan Times Unless the deficit is addressed, plans to improve incomes in the farm sector are unlikely to succeed According to the 2011 census, 45% of India’s workforce is engaged in non-agricultural activities i.e. professions other than cultivation and agricultural labour. This number diminishes by slightly more than two percentage points if one excludes two other primary sector activities: mining and plantations, forestry and fishing. Who are these workers? Which industries and...

-The Indian Express We have, indeed, entered a regime of “permanent surpluses” in most crops — a reality our policymakers are unable to grasp, stuck as they are in the era of the Essential Commodities Act. If there is one thing that has changed in Indian agriculture in recent times, it is supply response — the ability of farmers to increase production when prices go up. Traditionally, the supply curve in most...

-The Tribune The CobraPost sting reveals that the independence of the media and its ability to bring about transparency by playing an adversarial role against the establishment get compromised because of corruption within the folds of the media itself. The  sting operations conducted by CobraPost, among other things, highlight how pervasive the phenomenon of paid news is at present in much of the mainstream media in India. Corruption in the media is...