-The Hindu Regulating content on community radio is detrimental to its efforts to engage with local communities The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB) organised the 3rd National Community Radio Sammelan from February 9 to 11 to celebrate a decade of community radio. The celebrations were cut short when Secretary to MoIB Uday Kumar Varma confirmed that community radio stations would not be allowed to broadcast news for some time to come....

-The Hindu When all else fails, you still have the social media to bank on. Hyderabad: With phone lines from almost all service providers getting jammed, social networking websites Twitter and Facebook played a vital role in spreading news of individuals who were in the vicinity of the blast area among friends, relatives and colleagues. The micro blogging sites also became a platform to make FRAntic appeals by users to stop spreading unnecessary...

-The United Nations Unless Africa’s leaders prioritize environmental and health issues, and prevent the degradation of health-promoting food and medicinal plants, people’s health and productivity will continue to suffer, warns a new report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “Africa’s population is growing at the fastest rate in the world and its economy is expanding at a commensurate rate, yet not enough focus has been placed on the role...

-The Economic Times The Supreme Court has sought the Centre's view on inclusion of tribal people in the mainstream, saying they should be allowed to choose facilities such as roads, schools, hospitals and electricity in the wider debate over preservation of their habitat. The remarks were made by a three-judge bench on Wednesday in response to Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran's opposition to the Odisha government's plan to mine the Niyamgiri hills...

-Live Mint Building an outcomes-focused delivery system is a particular challenge in India For once, I am optimistic about elementary education in India. Not because we have witnessed improvements in learning levels. In fact, the opposite is true. The latest Annual Status of Education Report highlights the deepening crisis of poor learning levels. In 2008, just under 50% of standard III students could read a standard I text. In 2012, this dropped...