-Frontline The new crop insurance scheme introduced by the NDA government in an election year does not provide for a comprehensive coverage of all crops, against all forms of damage and at all stages of the crop cycle. IN AN election year, it is but natural that incumbent governments will introduce welfare policies and schemes. But the problem is that distribution of such largesse in a neoliberal dispensation can only be...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government expects at least 25 lakh vehicles, excluding two-wheelers, to go off the roads once it announces its Scrapping Policy for vehicles older than 15 years. Sources in the road transport ministry said the policy would be voluntary to begin with and the government would come out with incentives to encourage people to replace their old cars with new ones. The detailed proposal on scrapping...

-The Indian Express Education outcomes may have declined under the RTE, but scrapping the no-detention policy is not the answer. In the five years since the potentially transformative Right to Education Act (RTE) was implemented, several studies have documented the decline and stagnation of learning levels in school. The Annual Status of Education Reports have painted a dismal picture. Most children emerge from primary school lacking even rudimentary arithmetic and reading...

-Firstpost.com New Delhi: A large section of farmers and agricultural labourers from various states across the country didn’t want to lose the opportunity of the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament, to make their voices heard to the lawmakers of this nation. Amid sloganeering —“Ladenge, Jeetenge… Jai Kisan, Jai Kisan” (We’ll fight, we’ll win… Hail farmers!) — at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Monday, hundreds of farmers and leaders of various...

-The Hindu If the ‘pro-poor’ Delhi government dismantles its only Bus Rapid Transit corridor, it will only make life more difficult for the least affluent class. The new government in Delhi is reportedly planning to dismantle the 5.8- kilometre-long pilot Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor and replace it with a six-lane road instead. Those who have followed the saga of the BRT experiment in Delhi will not be surprised by the decision...