-Outlook Education remains a preserve of the rich as India's states renege on the 25 per cent reservation the RTE Act promises to the poor It is a day of trepidation for Prakash. A short, gawky man in his early thirties, he is among the several anxious parents waiting at a Bangalore school for the draw of lots to commence, he perhaps more anxious than the others. The process begins finally,...

-The Business Standard Like Indira Gandhi, even Narendra Modi seems to be relying on directing public-sector banks through ministry of finance supported by party cadres. How new is that? Narendra Modi's biggest project so far is Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), an aggressively promoted idea to open bank accounts. The English media ran full-page ads and TV commercials to announce the scheme that is supposed to reach largely rural households. It...

-The Indian Express Exposure to television and digital media grew by leaps and bounds between 2005 and 2012. From Naxalbari to the Arab Spring, our popular imagination has seen the youth as the harbinger of revolution that breaks down the bastions of privilege. How do we reconcile this with the decisive victory that modern Indian youth have handed to the BJP, whose manifesto focused on entrepreneurship rather than redistribution? I would like...

-The Hindu   More and more parents in big cities are choosing schools that offer an alternative system of education over conventional institutions in the hope that children will grow into well-rounded personalities away from the rat race and uninhibited by the pressure to be in the top percentile For parents of today, finding a "good school" for their children is a quest that requires a lot of thought and effort. But in...

As the country celebrates 68th anniversary of her independence this year, recent data from the Census 2011 reveals that the population of homeless declined by 8.8% between 2001 and 2011 to reach 17.7 lakhs. This means that 4.5 lakh households (of average household size 3.9) still do not have any shelter to sleep safely. Although the percentage share of homeless in total population is miniscule (i.e. 0.15%), in absolute numbers...