With a battle already brewing between central and state governments over the share of financial liabilities to implement the much-debated Right to Education (RTE) Act, activists fear that such a tussle would be a deadly blow to the law itself. While Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal has strictly asked all the states to mobilise funds to implement the Act, most of the state governments, including Karnataka have expressed their...

The Karnataka government has made it clear that the ball is in the Centre's court to ensure implementation of Right to Education (RTE). At a conference on RTE organized by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Centre for Educational and Social Studies (CESS) on Tuesday, primary and secondary education minister Visweshwara Hegde Kageri said: "Unless the Centre releases its share of funds, it will be difficult to implement RTE." The government has received 1,700...

The obnoxious practice will continue in one form or the other, as long as the government and society treat certain so-called menial jobs as the preserve of one community. On November 1, a unique journey will come to a ceremonious end in Delhi. Earlier this month, five bus loads of men and women headed out from different corners of the country with one slogan on their lips: honour and liberation for...

Karnataka's political classes might be striking deals and engaging in a war of words, but this has in no way affected the smooth progress of work for some of the multi-billion dollar industrial projects in the state. ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer, which plans to set up a 6-million tonne per annum plant in Bellary district with an estimated investment of Rs 30,000 crore, is now seeing farmers come forward...

In 1957, the Communist Party of Kerala became the first democratically elected communist government in Asia. While many in the West feared that this election would help communism spread across South Asia and make Kerala the "Yan'an of India", the Keralite communists' actions were checked by Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress party's control of the federal coffers. Instead, from within the political bounds of India's divided government, Kerala initiated what has...