-Economic and Political weekly Drawing on the research on basic education in West Bengal, this essay argues the case for a much criticised public education system, which needs to be reconsidered as regards its potential as a provider of quality education, even while addressing its many failings. The essay follows an approach, both critical and constructive, that underlines the collective onus of the public in realising the value of the public...

-Outlook The Income Tax Department today said it is investigating cases of black money holders on the basis of information furnished by foreign countries and will initiate prosecution proceedings wherever required. The department has taken a similar action against those individuals who figured in the LGT bank accounts list. "These cases are spread across the length and breadth of the country according to the Assessing Officers (AO) having jurisdiction. "They (AO) are quasi-judicial authorities...

—AFP World farm production must rise 60 per cent by 2050 to meet the needs of a growing population but this has to happen in a “more sustainable way”, the U.N. food agency FAO and the OECD said on Wednesday. “It’s mostly going to be about productivity”, said Angel Gurria, head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), at a press conference in Rome, explaining that farmland area would increase...

-International Land Coalition   Rome, Italy - Information on land governance is critical factor for enabling developing and emerging economies to establish effective land tenure systems and ultimately ensure secure and equitable access to and control over land. To this end, the International Land Coalition, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), today announce the integration of information on land from FAO databases accessible through the Land...

-The Hindu Unnerved by the Indian stand, IT monopolies are propagating the myth that a multilateral governance structure will kill the decentralised, multi-stakeholder nature of the Internet and lead to ‘government control' Last year, in a statement to the U.N. General Assembly, India sought the creation of a U.N. Committee on Internet-Related Policies (CIRP) in order to democratise global Internet governance, which at present is either U.S.-controlled, or subject to the policies...