-Tehelka As change.org starts its Hindi version, Preethi Herman, who heads the largest online social change portal in the country, speaks to Nikita Lamba about how ordinary people are being empowered to bring about the changes they want to see. * What drove you to start this venture in Hindi considering that the netizens of today’s world use English for communication? The lingua franca of about 47 percent of India’s internet population is...

-The Hindu An OECD study shows that better technology in classrooms does not always translate into better learning outcomes. It is time for Indian policymakers to do some soul-searching on our over-reliance on technology in education and the resultant neglect shown to teacher training.The new-age administrators believe that the internet can address all pedagogic needs. They do not understand curriculum policies or examination reforms. Nor do they appreciate the progressive initiatives...

-Hindustan Times Ludhiana: Punjab Agricultural University’s (PAU) Centre of Communication and International Linkages (CCIL), which last year came out with a eight-minute video drama on harms of stubble burning, has restored to various social networking platforms to promote the video. Keeping in view of the ongoing stubble burning in the state following paddy harvest, experts want to popularise it among farmers of the state. Experts are also of the view that...

-The Hindu In the Net neutrality debate, there is a conflict between two core values: ease of access and neutrality. The ease of access promised by applications like Free Basics compromises neutrality and may later morph into a method of predatory pricingIf programs that bring access to a part of the internet in the immediate future were to entrench themselves, it could eventually lead to telecom companies abusing their dominant positionsIn...

-The Hindu The idea of attacking poverty by increasing mobile connectivity in a country that ranks 55 in the Global Hunger Index is just fantasy Interviewer: What would you regard as the most outstanding and significant event of the last decade? Siddhartha: The… war in Vietnam, sir. Interviewer: More significant than landing on the moon? Siddhartha: I think so, sir. — “Pratidwandi” (The Adversary), 1970 The most fundamental debate for our youth is the choice between Android,...