-The Hindu Commodification, commercialisation and financialisation of nature will produce a greedy, not green, economy Over 100 world leaders will meet in Rio de Janeiro this week for the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, popularly referred to as Rio+20 Global Earth Summit. It is being held amidst “‘a world running low on drinking water and productive land’ and set against the backdrop of accelerating global warming, climate change, chemical contamination of air, land...

-The Indian Express   RTE amendment is laudable, but HRD ministry should look after special education Last month, I attended several meetings on Right to Education (RTE) and, in particular, the education of children with special needs — and I found the usual lack of understanding about their needs. What is special education? What is inclusive education? And what is the difference between the two? These are issues that only a few countries...

-The Deccan Herald Proposals to replace the public distribution system with direct cash Transfer into individual accounts under the proposed Food Security Bill do not have any taker, claim social activists. These activists are lobbying against cash Transfers. But others believe this is better than  distributing foodgrain among the poor. According to controversial proposal, the public distribution system (PDS) which provides subsidised foodgrain will be replaced with direct cash subsidies. A fixed amount will...

-Down to Earth Industrial houses use tribals as fronts to amass tribal land in Chhattisgarh Ram Singh’s neighbours tease him by calling him Crorepati Singh. The 40-year-old Gond tribal from Parsada village in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh has hardly any landholding and depends on the government’s employment guarantee schemes to feed his family. But according to official documents, Singh has recently purchased land worth Rs 1.5 crore from a dozen of tribals...

-The Christian Sciences Monitor Wealthy Western nations are financially exhausted and unwilling to commit to help fund greener development for poorer nations. Will this week's conference in Rio find any solutions? So what happens if you hold a UN conference on sustainable development, and world leaders make speeches, and sign treaties, and then nothing happens? This, of course, would be absurd. The problem, says Bill Easterly, a development expert at New York University,...