-The Indian Express Ten kilometres from Jodhpur city, on a sultry afternoon under a flapping tent, a baby girl is born to Sadhu and Radha. People crowd around and peer into the tent to congratulate the couple. Someone in the crowd says, “The first Indian among us, she should be named Bharati.” The suggestion is met with nods of approval and cheers of “Bharati”. Over the last one month, the makeshift tent...

-The Hindustan Times The transformation from street corner protester to elected representative is never an easy one. In the case of some politicians, they never quite get over their penchant for tub-thumping, as we can see to some extent in Mamata Banerjee. reading Arvind Kejriwal’s vision document and listening to his utterances, it would be no exaggeration to say that the transformation is going to be very difficult for him. Wearing...

-Reuters ROME: Food prices are set to remain high and volatility in food markets could increase in coming months, a senior economist at the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation told Reuters on Thursday. "Prices are sustained. It is highly unlikely we will see a normalisation of prices anytime soon," said Abdolreza Abbassian, senior economist at FAO. "Volatility is not going to go away, if anything it may even intensify further in coming months,"...

-The Hindu In its report on the road map to fiscal consolidation, the three-member committee headed by the former Finance Secretary and 13th Finance Commission Chairman, Vijay L. Kelkar, has suggested a host of “bold reform” measures on ways of slashing the subsidy bill which, it admitted, would result in some short term pain and hardships. The committee’s recommendations also include sale of surplus land with public sector undertakings (PSUs), fast-tracking of...

-Economic and Political weekly Drawing on the research on basic education in West Bengal, this essay argues the case for a much criticised public education system, which needs to be reconsidered as regards its potential as a provider of quality education, even while addressing its many failings. The essay follows an approach, both critical and constructive, that underlines the collective onus of the public in realising the value of the public...