-The Times of India BENGALURU: Reiterating that the city is becoming an urban jungle, experts on Saturday estimated that nearly 95% of the city will be just concrete if the unchecked urbanisation was allowed to continue. Experts debated a host of issues, ranging from depleting green cover and poor solid waste management to inability of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act in solving problems. At least 500 people representing various residents'...

-The Telegraph Our PM doesn’t seem sympathetic to the autonomy of academic institutions. He seems to promote the idea of delivery first, then funds: Andre Beteille New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday emphasised the autonomy his government had granted to higher-education institutions but several academics questioned the claim. Inaugurating a conference on education here, Modi termed the autonomy given to the IIMs “unprecedented”. Among the freedoms granted to the B-schools by the...

-The Hindu The debate on privatising higher education must be founded on the role of such institutions in developing a democratic and inclusive society. Motihari University, Manipur University, Hyderabad Central University, Jawaharlal Nehru University — these names have become shorthand for a set of problems that get framed differently depending on who does the analysis. The list of campuses of public-funded higher education institutions where anger is simmering or has flared up...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: India’s public transport system is not keeping pace with the auto boom, making commuters shun buses and trains and hop on to two-wheelers and cars. This has resulted in public transport’s share of passenger trips falling to an all-time low, and the situation is getting worse with every passing year. Compared with a share of 60-80% of passenger trips across major Indian cities in 1994, the...

-The Hindu The former Chief Statistician on calculating GDP back series, on indicators of development, and the fall of the rupee The draft of the back series GDP data, which was made public by the government recently, is unlikely to change drastically even if other methods of calculation are used, says former Chief Statistician of India, Pronab Sen. The noted economist discusses GDP, employment and poverty data; the value of the rupee;...