-The Hindu The grandiose spectacle that the Art of Living Foundation has organised on a thousand-acre site on the floodplain of a river in Delhi to demonstrate ‘humanitarianism’ and the oneness of cultures will go down as a spectacular example of thoughtless environmental destruction. The Central and Delhi governments have, in a display of extraordinary non-application of mind, allowed a private entity to take over part of the Yamuna floodplain, an...

-The Hindu Business Line The Budget outlay apart, an ambience of autonomy and a focus on soft skills are just as important The Budget identifies education as one of the key pillars of its agenda. It offers support on three dimensions — reach, infrastructure, and quality in higher education. Extend reach: The Budget aims to extend the reach of education. At the post-secondary level, it focuses on expanding skill development (by scaling up...

-The Indian Express If India is to improve its ease of doing business rank, the Centre needs to partner with states Twenty-five years ago, there would have been no interest in a subject such as the ease of doing business in India. What mattered then was the level of protection the closed economy provided and the ability to negotiate industrial approvals from Udyog Bhawan. Much water has since flown down the...

-The Indian Express Government must address the stress in the rural economy, seen in falling wages and incomes, which could reverse recent progress in rural areas Last year in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had exhorted voters to vote for his party in the Delhi assembly election, claiming that his victory in the general election had brought luck to the country. Unfortunately, the voters of urban Delhi were not convinced and...

-The Times of India New Delhi: When minister of women and child development Maneka Gandhi suggested registering the sex of every child in the womb to ensure the girl child is not killed, she probably did not understand the complex calculus that Indian would-be parents go through - when to have a child, how many, and boy or girl. A glimpse into this intriguing decision-making process undertaken by about 2.5 crore...