-The Business Standard Does the Indian government's loud voice in international negotiations lead to results? At the recent Word Trade Organisation (WTO) meet in Bali, the Indian government went, with all guns blazing, to defend the rights of the country's farmers and to secure food security for millions of poor people. It opposed the Agreement on Agriculture, which limits government food procurement to 10 per cent of the value of total...

-BBC A survey done earlier this year shows that public facilities in the poorest regions of India have steadily expanded, improving the lives of people there, writes development economist Jean Dreze. Once upon a time, not so long ago, public facilities in the poorest districts of India were few and far between. Most people were left to their own devices and they lived in the shadow of hunger, insecurity and exploitation, with no...

-The Hindu Sexual harassment cases usually have a marked power imbalance between the victim and the accused; this may well affect the negotiation scenario, with the victim being unable to hold her own In recent times, the issue of sexual harassment of women at the workplace has assumed prominence with serious allegations being made against a former Supreme Court judge, whose court pronounced verdict on huge scams, and the editor of a...

-Down to Earth State government yet to revoke ban on non-motorised transport despite repeated protests, calls from civil society and advisory from Union Ministry of Urban Development "I have been fined three times this month while delivering milk," says an angry Omkar Mandal. For over two decades now, Mandal has been cycling about 10 km every day to pick up and deliver milk. "Each time I have to pay Rs 120. How...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Delhi's private schools geared up to challenge the new guidelines for nursery admissions, with nearly every association holding meetings on Thursday in which they decided to first write to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung asking for changes and, if need be, take the issue to court. Under the new norms, all discretionary powers, including a 20% management quota, have been taken away from schools, who now have...