-The Hindu Flight tickets are often cheaper than train fares on these services thanks to the flexi fare system Railway Minister Piyush Goyal’s announcement last week that the public transporter was reviewing the scheme of flexi fares introduced in September last year reflects the paradox of a surge in railway revenue even as premium trains run with vacant seats. While Railway revenues have surged by Rs. 500 crore in the one year since the...
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A fresh perspective on farm suicides -A Srinivas
-The Hindu Business Line A recent book shows how a cocktail of indebtedness, masculinity and consumerism acts as a trigger. For those who have wondered whether indebtedness can be the sole factor driving farmers to take their lives, here is a book that introduces much needed nuance and complexity to the debate. Nilotpal Kumar’s book, based on a study of 22 suicide cases in Ananthapur district (accompanied by a fascinating ethnographic study...
More »Colouring books taxed, 'not porn'
-The Telegraph New Delhi: An umbrella organisation of publishers of educational books has pointed out that a 12 per cent tax has been levied on children's colouring books whereas "semi-pornography" books have been exempt under the goods and services tax, drawing attention to the perceived contradictions in the new levy regime. "Semi-porn for free, but pay for colouring books," the Federation of Educational Publishers in India (FEPI) has titled its short media...
More »The Aadhaar of all things -Shriya Mohan
-The Hindu Business Line From a severely critical stand against Aadhaar in 2014, the Modi-led BJP in power has made a sharp U-turn to bulldoze its way into having every Indian scanned, tagged and labelled. A timeline of the country’s chequered date with the unique identification project You’ve probably read the WhatsApp joke about a post-Aadhaar scenario in 2020 India. A man orders pizza over phone. He is asked for his Aadhaar...
More »Only NCERT books at all CBSE schools -Manash Pratim Gohain
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: CBSE schools will have to use NCERT textbooks from the 2017-18 academic session. The move to make National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) study materials mandatory for all Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools across the country is expected to standardise the curriculum across schools in the country. The decision was taken at a review meeting chaired by Union minister for human resource...
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