-The Economic Times The government’s decision to add one more layer of reservations to the existing 50 per cent in government jobs and seats in institutions of higher learning represents political opportunism and amounts to admitting failure to create economic dynamism that would generate quality jobs and meet the aspirations of young India. To create an additional quota of 10 per cent for those with an annual income less than Rs 8...

-The Hindu The Coastal Regulation Zone notification of 2018 increases the vulnerability of coastal people to climate disasters The National Democratic Alliance government has unleashed several extremely unimaginative developmental policies that target areas that have retained some degree of ecological value to turn them into sites for industrial production. This is despite evidence of the damaging effects of such policies. The latest instance of this is the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification...

-The Indian Express Wilima Wadhwa, director, ASER Centre, said it is possible that the gender gap in Mathematics is reinforced by existing perceptions on mathematical ability of girls. While the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural), 2018 – or ASER – shows that the percentage of girls out of school is shrinking, it reports a gender divide in basic Math learning levels across age categories, which steadily increases as the children...

-The Hindu Skill India needs a sharp realignment if it is to meaningfully transform people’s life chances In 2013, India’s skill agenda got a push when the government introduced the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). This organises all qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and aptitude, just like classes in general academic education. For instance, level 1 corresponds to Class 9 (because vocational education is only supposed to...

-The Economic Times The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, passed earlier this month in the Lok Sabha, has created a furore across Assam and other states across India. In Assam, a key coalition partner of the ruling BJP, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), quit the state government, accusing the Centre of being anti-Assam. Anti-Delhi rage is not new, whether for AGP or other regional parties in Assam. It’s been part of the political landscape from...