Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
Kazakhstan’s election commission believes that candidates for the presidential election, scheduled for April, need to brush up their knowledge of the Kazakh language. The commission’s head Quandyq Turghanqulov said the mandatory Kazakh language test for the candidates would be made stricter. Candidates would be tested for their reading, writing and …
One day there will be thousands of volunteers out there patrolling the Internet in Russia. That is the dream of a new organisation launched in the first week of February, the League of Internet Safety. The league brings together the three major mobile service providers: Mobile TeleSystems, VimpelCom, and Megafon, …
IN FEBRUARY 2008, the Delhi government had promised 25 mobile schools under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), which would run across the length and breadth of the Capital. The project was meant to bring out-of-school children
While the discussion on social democracy in western countries often puts the emphasis on its high costs and issues of incentives for work and enterprise, in India high inequality, massive poverty and a vast informal sector make the challenge of implementing social democracy extremely daunting as much as it is …
Examining the interactions between the International Labour Organisation and India, one of its founding members since 1919, this paper observes that the strength of the relationship has varied over time, but has often benefited both sides. Looking ahead, it points out that the ILO and India face common challenges arising …
The Planning Commission has shot down a proposal of the Central Information Commission (CIC) to bring private entities executing projects under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, arguing that it is applicable on public authority and not on private companies. "RTI is not Right …
With the Centre making an allocation of Rs21,000 crore for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in the Union Budget, the education department of the Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) exuded confidence that its proposal for Rs184 crore for the next fiscal would be approved by the Union government. The Pune district has …
This article suggests how the Gandhi–Ambedkar–Narayanaguru–Marx visions can be synthesised in support of the movement for the liberation and empowerment of India’s dalits. It brings out the beginnings and evolution of Gandhji’s sensitivity and opposition to ‘untouchability’. His perception of ‘untouchability’ was initially limited to ‘touch-me-not-ism’, but deepened after his …
As the world’s largest multi-ethnic democracy, India has a federal constitution that is well-equipped with administrative devices that offer apparent recognition and measures of self-governance to territorially concentrated ethnic groups. This article analyzes how demands for political autonomy—or statehood—within the federal system have been used as a frame for social …
KOCHI Dispelling all Feb. 27: Dispelling all apprehensions about the impact of the Right to Education Bill on minority institutions, Union human resources development minister, Kapil Sibal said on Sunday that it will be amended to insulate such institutions from any outside interference. The role of the proposed management committees
Chhattisgarh’s tribal population is beginning to get a taste of free press. They have a news service that informs them about events that concern them but rarely find mention in the mainstream media because of the state’s Special Public Security Act of 2005. The law operates as a gag order …
The Mid-Term Appraisal of the Eleventh Plan calls for exploration of the possibility of converting existing private institutions into public partnerships. The government believes that strict regulation and enforcement will ensure that the private sector contributes significantly to equitable education. However, the government's record until now in terms of both …
This article documents and then examines the various benefi ts that, it is claimed, will fl ow from linking the Unique Identity number with the public distribution system and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It fi lters the unfounded claims, which arise from a poor understanding of how the …
This paper presents the first results of a study conducted on subjective expectations that parents have about the costs and returns to education. This is done by using a detailed child-level dataset from the three villages of Dokur (Mahbubnagar district, Andhra Pradesh), Kalman and Shirapur (Sholapur district, Maharashtra). The perceived …
Interest in Lokpal has revived, thanks to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's diktat on fighting corruption. Here is the lowdown on a watchdog that neither the political nor the administrative executives want.
The papers in the special issue on Rammanohar Lohia (EPW, 2 October 2010) did not dwell on the socialist leader’s thinking on local governance and local development, ideas which continue to be relevant today for rural development.
