-The Hindu Education is a right, not a privilege reserved for the select elite Even though Jawaharlal Nehru University, where I teach, is in turmoil because of an incompetent administration incapable of communicating with the students and teachers, the larger crisis confronting the idea of a public university needs to be understood. From Jamia Millia Islamia to Jadavpur University, from Visva-Bharati University to Aligarh Muslim University, and from the University of Hyderabad...

  Air quality in North India in general and Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi NCR) in particular plunged to its lowest point in recent years during October-November thanks to a variety of factors. Through media reports one comes to know that stubble burning (also called paddy straw burning/ crop residue burning) is chiefly responsible for the public health crisis in India's capital and its nearby regions. Data accessed from the website...

-The Indian Express India can learn three lessons from China — investing more in agri-R&D and innovations, improving incentives for farmers by carrying out agri-marketing reforms, and collapsing input subsidies into direct income support on per hectare basis. India and China, the world’s most populous countries, have limited arable land — China has about 120 million hectares (mha) and India 156 mha. The challenge before the two countries is to produce...

-Hindustan Times The scheme launched to give more subsidies to farmers will prefer women for benefits for gender mainstreaming in agriculture, said officials Jaipur: The Rajasthan government will focus on women farmers in a new subsidy scheme for livelihood improvement, said officials. The scheme launched to give more subsidies to farmers will prefer women for benefits for gender mainstreaming in agriculture, the officials added. The scheme will be run by the water resources department...

-The Indian Express More than 90 per cent of the cane returns are spent by farmers. as Cultivation cost and for repayment of crop loans. So how would these farmers survive for a year or more without receiving their entire produce amount by a sugar mill? The sugar industry was unanimous in hailing the push given by the Narendra Modi government for the production of ethanol. The policy, which was unveiled...