-The Indian Express Chandigarh: The 2011 Census has brought both good and bad news for Gurgaon. The fast developing city, according to census figures, has the highest literacy rate and the worst sex ratio in the state. The data shows that Gurgaon has a literacy rate of 84.7 per cent, followed by Panchkula at 81.9 per cent and Ambala at 81.7 per cent, but the sex ratio remains a dismal 854 women...

-Frontline The Central government's proposal to hand over the supply of supplementary nutrition to NGOs in the name of "community participation" is surely an invitation for private profiteering on the back of this supposedly public scheme. ENSURING safe and healthy conditions for the reproduction of the population is obviously the most fundamental requirement of any society. So the progress of a society can be determined (and indeed is routinely judged) by the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: For a man who prides himself as being the "original reformer", PM Manmohan Singh did not mention the word "reforms" even once in his speech on the ninth anniversary of UPA. And, it was only once that he talked of inflation. It was hardly surprising given that reforms do not seem to be on his radar in view of the tough political environment and inflation is...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The second tenure of the UPA coalition has witnessed a sharp slowdown in growth, stubborn prices, high interest rates and faltering business confidence. While there are some tentative signs of a revival on the horizon, the Indian economy is still not out of the woods and experts say sustained policy and governance reforms are needed to lift Asia's third-largest economy back to its potential growth rate...

-The Telegraph Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government has decided to return nearly 10,000 acres from its land bank to 30,000-odd original owners by the end of the year with an eye on electoral gains, officials said. No one in the government would go on record but The Telegraph has seen a land and land reforms department order, sent to the departments holding the plots and the district authorities, to start the land-return...