The arbitrary deletion of A.K. Ramanujan’s ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation’ from the syllabus of a concurrent course taught by the History Department by the Academic Council of the University of Delhi has understandably sparked off a major debate. The prehistory of this step is to be traced to early 2008 when ABVP activists attacked and vandalised the office of the History Department in the...

The government is likely to allow advance part payment of wages in a bid to restore faith of beneficiaries in its flagship rural jobs scheme. The proposal is part of a slew of measures to address mounting criticism of the centrally-funded Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) which is beset by administrative logjam and charges of leakages.  The rural development ministry has asked states to initiate a monthlong PILot...

-The Hindustan Times   The Delhi High Court has sought the Delhi government’s reply on a PIL accusing it of not taking action against private schools not reserving seats for students of economically weaker sections. The schools have been accused of violating the Right to Education (RTE) Act. A bench of Acting Chief Justice AK Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued a notice to the Delhi government and its Directorate of...

In the absence of a specific law defining the rights of patients, consumers in India face a host of problems when it comes to healthcare. They often do not get adequate information about their illness or the treatment. In fact, there is very little recognition of the patients’ right to information or choice and this can also be seen in the way consent forms are obtained from patients for medical...

While Asian economies boomed before the global recession in 2008, the fruits of that progress did not translate into better wages or secure employment conditions for workers in the region. The International Labour Organisation (ILO)'s Asian Decent Work Decade launched in 2006 was aimed at five priority areas of competitiveness, productivity and jobs; labour market governance; youth employment, managing labour migration and local development for poverty reduction. Today workers' unions are...