-The Hindu Political mobilisation along ethnic lines has played a dominant role in reinforcing group differences in Assam, with blatant disregard for the present realities of its demography For the people of Assam, the last few weeks have brought misery upon misery. No sooner had they begun to recover from the floods, than came the riots that have rendered thousands homeless in the Boro Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD). The violence has not...

-The Hindu While government pushes for affirmative action in private industry, players differ on the methodology to be followed Even as P.L. Punia, Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes said that reservations for marginalised communities in the private sphere should be mandated, industry members differed on the strategy for affirmative action. While everybody acknowledged the problems faced by marginalised communities and the need to find solutions, they did not agree on the way...

-The Hindu In the filled slots, SCs constitute just 12% against the stipulated 15% and STs 5% instead of 7.5% Among the ills that plague the Indian higher education system is the continued poor stake of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in it. Year on year, the huge backlog of vacancies in teaching positions in SC/ST categories remains a constant concern with little change in its position. Nearly half the teaching positions...

By stopping social security pensions, the Karnataka government has put the lives of over 10 lakh poor in peril. Naveen Basavaraj Kuntoji is nine years old and suffers from cerebral palsy. His movements are greatly restricted, and it looks like he is in great pain every time he valiantly wills his body to do something. When he is hungry, he slowly lifts his hand and points to his mouth. When this...

-The Hindu Commodification, commercialisation and financialisation of nature will produce a greedy, not green, economy Over 100 world leaders will meet in Rio de Janeiro this week for the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, popularly referred to as Rio+20 Global Earth Summit. It is being held amidst “‘a world running low on drinking water and productive land’ and set against the backdrop of accelerating global warming, climate change, chemical contamination of air, land...