-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Political parties banded together to strongly oppose the recent Supreme Court order that legislators be immediately disqualified on conviction and called on the government to take measures to undo the ruling. The all-party meeting ahead of the monsoon session on Thursday saw political parties in one voice protesting the "erosion" of Parliament's supremacy in law-making with leaders claiming the SC order is an assault on their...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Silence of the middle class -Sandhya Venkateswaran
-The Indian Express It did not raise its voice in protest against the midday meal deaths in Bihar In Bihar, more than 20 children died after consuming a midday meal. One would have expected largescale protests, anger, demands. But the incident has been greeted by an eerie silence. Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, India - these are some of the countries where mass protests, largely by the middle classes, have brought issues to the streets...
More »The capable state -Gulzar Natarajan
-The Indian Express No magic pill solution or quick fix can make up for basic administrative deficiencies In a review of Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen's latest book in the Financial Times (July 12, 2013), historian Ramachandra Guha questions whether the Indian state is "up to the job of doing more to tackle poverty". Mainstream debates about the persistence of poverty and pervasive failures in public service delivery in India tend to...
More »Scanner on school no-detention policy -Basant Kumar Mohanty
-The Telegraph New Delhi: Easy promotions may lead to poor performance in school, a government committee has found. Class X board results have worsened across the states in the three years since the Right To Education Act stipulated compulsory promotions till Class VIII, a member of the panel told The Telegraph. The act mandates schools to conduct "continuous and comprehensive evaluation" (CCE), which means pupils' scholastic and co-scholastic skills should be assessed round...
More »Prof. Amartya Sen, co-author of the book 'An Uncertain Glory: India And Its Contradictions' interviewed by Praveen Dass
-The Times of India Amartya Sen is angry, and clearly getting impatient . Having urged Indian policymakers over decades to do more to combat poverty, hunger and illiteracy , the economist is now taking direct aim at what he feels is our continuing apathy as a nation towards the underprivileged. But in his own way - less the firebrand rhetorician and more the gentle but firm academic don that he is....
More »