-The Telegraph The Union HRD minister says the Himalaya protects India from pollution, while Himalayan states struggle with trash Why did the students clap? That is, why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side obviously. Like the students at the 65th convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, who were subjected to the priceless nuggets of knowledge that dropped from the lips of the Union human...

-The Hindu The agenda to set up a development bank is a welcome initiative, but questions remain on its design Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s press conference on August 23, announcing a slew of measures to boost the economy and financial market sentiments, had an interesting idea. It was about setting up a development bank. Ms. Sitharaman said: “In order to improve access to long-term finance, it is proposed to establish an organisation to...

-The Indian Express Elections are short term contests, but the political project of democracy is a long game. Democracy is not just a set of Institutions but also a set of values. The Institutions are, minimally speaking, free and fair elections, an elected Parliament containing an executive and an Opposition to hold it accountable, an independent judiciary, a nonpartisan bureaucracy, a free media, and security of existence for all citizens. Democratic values...

-The Indian Express High powered commitee for transformation of agriculture should reform restrictive tenancy laws, protect rights of landowners. Early in its second term, on July 1, the Narendra Modi government constituted a High Powered Committee of Chief Ministers for Transformation of Indian Agriculture. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was appointed the committee’s convenor. The Committee is supposed to submit its report within two months. Its terms of reference (ToR) pertain...

  In the month of June this year, encephalitis related deaths in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district grabbed the headlines. Actually, most of the children, who were admitted or died at Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), hailed from East Champaran, Vaishali, Sitamarhi and Samastipur apart from Muzaffarpur. Unfortunately, till recently official data on the number of cases and deaths related to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) was unavailable for...