-Down to Earth Crisis in Chhattisgarh over implementation of food security law has crucial lessons for India's public distribution system The unprecedented surge in below-poverty-line (BPL) families in Chhattisgarh has a lesson for India's public distribution system (PDS). In its overdrive to implement its own food security law, the state has issued more ration cards than the total number of households. Political parties see it as a scandal, while it may...

-The Times of India More than three quarters of schools in the country do not have fully equipped science laboratories for students in class 11 and 12, a survey of 2.4 lakh secondary and senior secondary schools has found. For classes 9 and 10, where an integrated science module is taught to students, over 58% schools don't have the requisite lab. "This is an atrocious state of affairs," says a sad Professor...

-The Hindu Business Line   Most Indians are not aware of, or responsive to, the issue. For this, the media is squarely responsible The Ministry of Environment and Forests is now the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Including climate change as a key component in the title of the ministry is all very well, but how do we envisage taking climate change and its everyday implications to the masses? A 2011 Yale...

-The Hindu   More and more parents in big cities are choosing schools that offer an alternative system of education over conventional institutions in the hope that children will grow into well-rounded personalities away from the rat race and uninhibited by the pressure to be in the top percentile For parents of today, finding a "good school" for their children is a quest that requires a lot of thought and effort. But in...

-Economic and Political Weekly How will the amendments to the Factories Act affect women workers? How do women view the "protections" and night work? Apoorva Kaiwar (akaiwar@yahoo.co.in) is a labour lawyer and consultant on issues of gender and labour. The central government is proposing to amend several labour laws. The process of amending them has been underway since 2011, which means that it is not only the new dispensation that is eager to...