-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 New Indian Express   Most people would have been shocked to read the year-end report that India has been ranked 63rd, much below countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), a yardstick used by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to comprehensively measure global hunger. The index is calculated as an average of three indices-undernourishment, underweight children and low child mortality rate-and is measured on a...

-The Hindu Amid reports in a section of the media that the Government was reconsidering its policy that disallows news programmes on private FM channels, Union Information & Broadcasting Ministry Secretary Bimal Julka on Tuesday said no decision as such had been taken as yet. According to Mr. Julka, the policy was being looked at in the wake of the Supreme Court's notice to the Centre on a public Interest writ petition...

-Outlook Dehradun: The Uttarakhand government will soon launch a self-employment scheme for the unemployed youths of the state by building 3,5000 shops and giving them to the beneficiaries on Interest-free loans repayable in ten years. To be built in clusters of 10 shops each on a piece of land identified by the District Magistrate concerned, each of the shops will be available at a cost of Rs 2 lakh, official sources said...

-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...