-The Economic Times Every concerned and right-thinking citizen of this country wants poverty to be reduced as early as possible. Governments and policymakers have given assurances, time and again, that they are making their earnest efforts in that direction. Yet, there is a big debate in the country, ranging from the very definition of poverty to the number of people below the poverty line. Some academic stalwarts have devoted almost their whole...

-Economic and Political weekly Drawing on the research on basic education in West Bengal, this essay argues the case for a much criticised public education system, which needs to be reconsidered as regards its potential as a provider of quality education, even while addressing its many failings. The essay follows an approach, both critical and constructive, that underlines the collective onus of the public in realising the value of the public...

-Countercurrents.org I am Neena secretary of Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association Manipur (EEVFAM). On 4 November 2008 after enjoying a family lunch, my husband Nongmaithem Michael, went to a friend’s helping him to set up his father’s shradha ceremony. Around 3 p.m. he got a phone call and left the place. At 3.32 p.m. I received a call from him saying that he was apprehended and told me to inform his sister...

-The Telegraph The Manmohan Singh government has decided to aggressively highlight the Supreme Court’s opinion on allocation of natural resources to debunk the CAG’s coal report that presumed losses of Rs 1.86 lakh crore. Although the government had given a restrained formal response yesterday, senior ministers P. Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid and Kapil Sibal were fielded again today. The ministers carefully avoided Attacking the CAG directly but the essence of their argument was that...

-PTI Unfazed by the uproar over FDI in retail and other tough decisions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday indicated that the government may continue with the reforms process and expressed willingness to discuss issues with allies. "We will do what is good for the country... reforms are not one-off process," he said. The Prime Minister was responding to questions on demands for rollback of decisions on FDI in multi-brand retail, diesel price...