The ASCI report says there is ample evidence of “market dominance” in specific media markets, but the government has ignored the report for three years. A ministry official tells PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA that it is unlikely to be implemented. A report prepared by an independent institution recommending imposition of cross-media ownership restrictions recently entered the public domain nearly three years after it was submitted,  following a rebuke to the government by...

-The Hindu After a prolonged struggle with low enrolment rates for children in the school-going age, India now has to come to grips with another crucial issue: poor learning outcomes for students in the six to 14 age group. National data on this is not comprehensive, but available empirical evidence points to weak achievements for a significant percentage of students. In rural India, which is more disadvantaged, the highest level of...

There are major issues at stake in the Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development to be held on 20-22 June. Yet governments of developing countries have not given adequate importance to the run-up to the conference. As has happened in the climate change negotiations, the outcome draft now under negotiation shows a concerted move to rewrite the terms of global environmental governance. There is an attempt to push through the decidedly...

-The Hindu The Central Advisory Board of Education has decided to constitute a committee to revisit the ‘no detention' provision under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. The panel will submit a report in three months. The Advisory Board, at a meeting on Wednesday, also endorsed the government's initiative to create a Credit Guarantee Fund to provide better flow of credit to deserving students. The Rs. 5,000-crore...

-The Business Standard The Western Ghats need local environmental governance What sets the report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, headed by Professor Madhav Gadgil, apart from most other reports delivered by such government-appointed committees is that it does not view environmental factors in isolation from development imperatives. Nevertheless, its recommendations pay careful attention to the need for protection and preservation of the biological wealth of one of the world’s hot...