-PTI Backing Centre's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said the decision will help farmers prosper by removing middlemen from the supply chain and generate new jobs. Addressing the national executive of Indian Youth Congress in Srinagar last night, Rahul said FDI in retail will help farmers store their produce safely for a longer duration, thus ensuring best value for their crops. The 42-year-old AICC general...

-Economic and Political weekly Drawing on the research on basic education in West Bengal, this essay argues the case for a much criticised public education system, which needs to be reconsidered as regards its potential as a provider of quality education, even while addressing its many failings. The essay follows an approach, both critical and constructive, that underlines the collective onus of the public in realising the value of the public...

-IPS News UXBRIDGE, Canada- Growing water shortages in many countries are a major threat to global security and development and should be a top priority at the U.N. Security Council, a panel of experts said in a new report. However, that report ignores the biggest threat to water security: neoliberal policies of the free market economic system laying waste to the natural world and turning water into a commodity, activists counter. China...

-The Hindustan Times The fragile peace at Kudankulam lasted through Sunday, but elsewhere in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Kerala, it was a day of protests and arrests. In Tuticorin, around 250 protesters on way to Kudankulam were arrested. They included Periyar Dravida Kazhagam leader Kolathur Mani and leaders of Naan Thamilar Iyakkam and Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam. In Kerala's Parassala, police stopped a "solidarity march" by cultural leaders to Kudankulam. For Tamil...

-Live Mint India, with its myriad ethnic and religious groups, has more legal speech restrictions than other democratic nations Freedom of speech is impossible to agree about. While hardly anyone will dispute that freedom of expression is essential for a democratic society and an effective free market, almost no one will be able to agree about exactly where to draw the line. In one corner, fighting for unbridled expression in various degrees, you...