-The Economic Times School textbooks will not feature any 'offensive' political cartoon, the government assured on Monday, days after a 1949 cartoon of Dalit icon Ambedkar in a political science text rocked Parliament. The government has ordered an inquiry to identify NCERT officials responsible for inclusion of the Ambedkar cartoon in the textbook, HRD minister Kapil Sibal said in the Lok Sabha. "I found that a number of cartoons were inappropriate...a review...

As cartoons, like all other images, are constantly subject to fresh interpretation, there is a need to set boundaries within which dissent must be tolerated; or else we run the risk of damaging the task of knowledge building Like many books, works of art, and articles that have been summarily withdrawn from public circulation, for different political reasons, and due to public pressure, the controversial 1949 cartoon by Shankar has been...

-The Economist An absence of optimism plays a large role in keeping people trapped in poverty THE idea that an infusion of hope can make a big difference to the lives of wretchedly poor people sounds like something dreamed up by a well-meaning activist or a tub-thumping politician. Yet this was the central thrust of a lecture at Harvard University on May 3rd by Esther Duflo, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute...

-PTI Cartoons making fun of leaders like BR Ambedkar finding their way into textbooks came under all-round attack in Lok Sabha on Monday, prompting government to promise an inquiry into the role of NCERT officials and ensure there are no recurrences. Members cutting across party lines expressed concern over such material in school textbooks with BJP and TDP utilising the occasion to demand HRD Minister Kapil Sibal's resignation. Most of the members...

-The Hindustan Times In April, after yet another story of maid abuse came out in the open, a news magazine ran a cover story titled, ‘The new slaves’. While many would cringe at the thought of equating domestic workers with slaves, unfortunately that is exactly how many families treat their domestic help, taking advantage of a crowded labour market, lack of a credible support system for the help, weak implementation of...