Tuition is seen as a minimum requirement for any kind of achievement in our academic scene, which is marked by competitive pressure and high aspirations. ONE of the more remarkable features of our education system is the way it has allowed and even encouraged the proliferation of private tuition outside the regular school system. This is something relatively unique to India, as it is not found to this extent even...

Some 800 million people in the world were malnourished even before the food and economic crises hit.  Now a push to confront this longer-term problem is picking up steam. Leaders at recent global gatherings agreed to back a multibillion dollar initiative to boost agriculture and food security in low-income countries. Discussions on the overall design and level of funding are continuing. In September, the G20 asked the World Bank to...

The European Commission (EC) has called for an open discussion between India and the European Union on how to deal with social and environmental issues, child labour and related matters for the successful conclusion of the ongoing India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. “It is very clear for us that promoting sustainable development is not a veiled attempt of protectionism. On the contrary, trade negotiations are designed to eliminate barriers...

Faced with rising world hunger and “unacceptable” poverty, members of the Food and Agriculture Organisation Committee on World Food Security (CFS) have agreed on a wide-ranging reform, the FAO announced on Tuesday. The reform aims at making the CFS an “inclusive” international and intergovernmental platform dealing with food security and nutrition, and its being a central component in the evolving global partnership for agriculture, food security and nutrition. In addition...

The right to information act (RTI) which is hailed as a great leap forward in the direction of transparency in governance is under serious threat. The UPA government that showcased the historical act as one of its achievements in the last Lok Sabha elections now seems to be bowing down to the system’s high and mighty by proposing amendments which seem designed to take the sting out of the people’s...