-Frontline A report by ActionAid and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences highlights the vulnerability and tragic living conditions of thousands of children who take shelter in Mumbai's streets. IN 1988, the acclaimed film-maker Mira Nair made Salaam Bombay!, a poignantly revealing film on street children in Mumbai. The plot revolves around the protagonist, Krishna or "Chaipau", who is kicked out of his home by his mother for having damaged his...

-IANS Kolkata: Researchers from India, Britain and Bangladesh are studying the impact of climate change on livelihoods of those living in Sunderbans mangroves, the world's largest mangrove forests. More than two-thirds of the forest lies in Bangladesh, the focus of the study, and the rest in West Bengal. Under the ongoing Ecosystem Services For Poverty Alleviation (Deltas) project, as many as 50 experts from the three countries are investigating the impact of climate...

-The Hindu     Educationists emphasise importance of public participation Chennai: The Right to Education (RTE) Act guarantees children a place in School but it requires political will and public participation in running Schools and sensitive bureaucrats who understand the needs of children to make it effective, say education activists. At a discussion organised by The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy here on Wednesday, eminent persons associated with children's education spoke of the...

-The Hindu India is the world's largest open air lavatory with over 620 million people practising open defecation in the country. Seeking to address this persisting problem, the UPA government has widened the scope of its flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to include works relating to rural sanitation in collaboration with the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyaan (NBA) Scheme. This interlinking is aimed at strengthening the base of rural...

-The Indian Express     Policy design should worry less about public versus private, and more about choice and accountability. The most noteworthy aspect of the Aam Aadmi Party's manifesto is the explicit focus on service delivery. This is what its government will be evaluated on, and attention has shifted from the AAP's political success to how it will deliver on these promises. The ideas below reflect learnings from over a decade of research...