-Live Mint There is no dearth of advisors for a government considered to be in the grip of a policy paralysis and whose prime minister is dubbed an “underachiever”. In this season of India-bashing, US President Barack Obama spared some time from his election campaign and offered some pearly words of wisdom on the Indian economy. This came at a time when in his own backyard, thousands of people marched in...

-The Times of India A housewife applying for a housekeeping job in a hotel or a local motor mechanic applying for a post in an automobile company might sound strange. But it's likely to happen with government working on a policy framework to enable people with certain skills to apply for Jobs even without formal qualification. Under the 'recognizing prior learning' scheme (which people learn informally), the human resource development (HRD) ministry...

-The Times of India India's official unemployment rate last year was 3.8%, data released recently by the Labour Bureau shows, but, as always, averages hide many stories. A closer look at the numbers shows that unemployment rises with education level to 10% among graduates, and higher still for backward castes. The Chandigarh-based Labour Bureau under the union ministry of labour and employment released the 'Employment and Unemployment Survey 2012' last week. The...

-The Times of India More than 30 billion apps were downloaded in 2011 and three-quarters of the world's inhabitants now have access to a mobile phone. India has 70 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, a new report from the World Bank says. "Mobile communication has arguably had a bigger impact on humankind in a shorter period of time than any other invention in human history," the "Information and Communications for Development 2012: Maximizing...

-The Times of India It was a rainy July evening ten years ago. A motley group of villagers from Sutia gathered at the local market to protest the spate of rapes that had left the area terrorized. They were angry but terrified of reprisal. And they did not know if anyone would join the fight. Speaking in hushed tones, they distributed leaflets asking people to join the protest. Some took the...