-The Telegraph Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget spells out the colossal failure that the draft NEP is fated to be In her budget speech on July 5, the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, reiteRATed the government’s plan of bringing in a new National Education Policy, thereby initiating “major changes in both school and higher education”. Her announcement comes close on the heels of a draft NEP published by the ministry of human resource development in...

-The Hindu The figure quoted by the government fails to completely take into consideRATion deliveries in private hospitals. Female foeticide continues to increase at an alarming RATe, as per the Sample RegistRATion System (SRS) data released in July for the period 2015-2017. The sex RATio at birth (SRB) has been dropping continuously since Census 2011, coming down from 909 girls per thousand boys in 2011-2013 to 896 girls in 2015-2017, to quote...

-The Hindu They can be an effective tool for rainwater harvesting With an increased variability of monsoons and rapidly depleting groundwater tables, large parts of India are reeling under water stress. A number of peninsular regions like Bundelkhand, Vidarbha and MaRAThwada have been facing recurring drought-like situations. Given the enormity of the crisis, at a recent NITI Aayog meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi explicated the need to implement innovative water management measures,...

-The Hindu When data is monetised, as the Economic Survey advocates, it becomes toxic and harms public interest Last year, I was denied information requested under the Right to Information Act (RTI) 2005. I had sought the names of agencies empanelled by the Unique Identification Authority of India for an “image makeover” and the expenditure on it. It was denied by invoking the exemption clauses of Sections 8(d) and 8(j), respectively, i.e....

-The Hindu What the draft National Education Policy omits in its chapter on early childhood care and education The draft National Education Policy starts its opening sentence with a hitherto little-known fact: “The learning process for a child commences immediately at birth.” Many believe that children start learning only in school. It is true that language and numerical proficiency, and analytical skills, are attained in school, but the foundation for such a...