-The Hindu Setting up of effective grievance redress and monitoring machinery mooted The Right to Education Act’s guidelines need to be strengthened to help end discrimination in schools, whether based on caste, religion, gender, disability, class or language, by setting up an effective grievance redress and monitoring machinery. This was one of the themes discussed by the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) when it met here on Monday to approve in principle...

-Frontine Walmart’s disclosure that it spent huge amounts of money on lobbying in India and the allegation that it entered the retail sector through indirect means highlight the power of global capital in dictating the country’s policies. The world’s largest multi-brand retailer Walmart’s disclosure to the United States Senate that it had spent $25 million (Rs.135 crore) since 2008 on its various lobbying activities, which include enhancing access to the Indian...

-The Hindu In the television newsroom, the promoter’s fancies and political preferences have taken precedence over editorial judgement The Zee “extortion” case in which the news network is alleged to have demanded Rs.100 crore in return for rolling back its campaign against steel tycoon Navin Jindal’s “misdemeanours” in coal block allocations (for the family owned Jindal Steel & Power Limited or JSPL), is a deeply layered story that deserves a closer look...

-The Hindu There is little doubt that US universities have a long way to go in terms of making women safe on campus In the wake of the high-profile gang rape incident in New Delhi on December 16, media and public comments have significantly centred on anti-woman attitudes in Indian society, particularly among young men. This line of introspection is indeed warranted, for there can be little doubt that these values have fuelled...

-Economic and Political Weekly The vigorous public discourse following the recent brutal gang rape and mutilation of the 23-year-old in Delhi is a positive sign but hopefully the demand for quick solutions will not ignore the complexities involved in dealing with all forms of violence against women. There are also other connected issues that require urgent attention including the description of a rape as a "state worse than death", making out...