-Press Statement from Right to Education Forum Lok Sabha has passed today Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012 and allowed work for children below the age of 14 years in family enterprises is a regressive move. RTE Forum, a coalition of ten thousand grass-root organizations, people’s movement, educationists and teachers organizations, has said that  “Today is black day for the millions of Indian children; they will now be deprived...

-Deccan Herald Buoyed by the incentives announced by the government, farmers appear to have taken up cultivation of pulses in a big way this year. New Delhi: According to the data released by the Agriculture Ministry, pulses acreage has increased 39% as compared to the same period last year. Sowing of coarse cereals and oil seeds has also increased but acreage of sugar cane and cotton has declined. The area under pulses cultivation was...

-The Hindu The state has become exclusively concerned with the interests of globalised capital and the domestic corporate-financial oligarchy aligned with it. The income squeeze on peasants is one consequence Central to the “reforms” introduced in 1991 was not a “retreat of the state” in favour of the “market” as is commonly supposed, but a change in the nature of the state. This change was not necessarily a conscious decision; it was...

-The Hindu India must convert its young population to a competitive advantage, and nutrition and health are foundational to that outcome. The “Global Nutrition Report 2016” once again demonstrates India’s slow overall progress in addressing chronic malnutrition, manifest in stunting (low weight for age), wasting (low weight for height), micronutrient deficiencies and over-weight. Our track record in reducing the proportion of undernourished children over the past decade has been modest at best,...

-The Hindu New Delhi: Stepping up its scrutiny of NGOs, especially their financial dealings, the Centre has made obtaining unique identification numbers and registering them on the NITI Aayog portal, including the details of the Aadhaar and PAN numbers of all their trustees and office- bearers, mandatory for them to apply for grants from any ministry. The decision was taken by the Aayog at its meeting on May 9, which Prime Minister...