When Kesar Singh Rathor reached his first posting at Akha Dungri about 20 years ago, there was no school building. He used to teach in the houses of the local community members. Many kids would come without taking a bath or even proper clothes on. He would cut their hairs, nails and take bath with them in the river nearby. Slowly and slowly, kids were encouraged to take school attendance more s
The seed bil 2010 discussed in parliament on August 4 has several lacunae and will not serve farmers interest, says CPI(M) lok sabha MP and chairman of parliamentary standing committee on agriculture Basudeb Acharia. Acharia wants a seed liability bill along the lines of nuclear liability bill which will fix responsibility on the companies promoting genetically modified seeds in case of any set
A report by the Greenpeace India said that use of glyphosate-based herbicides poses risks to human health as well as environment. The report accused multinational biotech companies - Monsanto, Pioneer and Dow Agrosciences of aggressively pushing for herbicide tolerant GM crops in India. “Monsanto has been trying to introduce herbicide tolerant GM maize in India. Presently GM maize
In the next few days, the supreme court has to decide its next move on the gang rape of Bellary district in Karnataka. On the court’s table is the question whether or not to uphold its decision to ban all mining activity in the area. At the time of writing, the court’s central empowered committee (CEC) has recommended the creation of a high-powered committee under additional PCCF De
When he was appointed HRD minister, Kapil Sibal was a man with mission. He wanted to change the entire education system and was even quick to come up with a blueprint for education reforms at all levels. But more than two years down the line he has only managed to give the right to every child to free and compulsory education. The minister though worked on various
Welfare schemes for minority communities have not achieved much, findings of a survey by the centre for equity studies (CES) say. The survey report holds that the government has underutilised funds earmarked for the schemes. “Government departments have not been able to spend even the limited funds for minorities,” it says. The dismal utilisation of the muti-sectora
When Anna Hazare’s supporters conducted a ‘referendum’ right in union minister Kapil Sibal’s constituency, they found that 85 percent people in Chandni Chowk do not agree with the government stance on the Lokpal bill. That is one conclusion of this first-of-its-kind exercise. The more interesting conclusion is this: Sibal as MP is supposed to represent his constituency&r
Changes taking place in the world economy are likely to catapult the Asia-Pacific region as the centre of gravity of the world economy with China, India and Indonesia emerging as the growth poles for not only the region, but also the entire world. However, there are some important challenges on the way for this transformation to take place. Focusing on inclusive development and deepenin
While India firmly hedges it bets on a high growth rate, the world is far from seeing it as the next global investement destination, warns a new report released on Tuesday by the United Nations conference on trade and investment (UNCTAD). India has dropped six places in the global trade body`s 2010 rankings of highest foreign direct investment (FDI) compared to the 2009 list. &l
Some years ago, Amitabh Bachchan was voted the Greatest Actor Ever to Wear Greasepaint in the History of Cinema on Planet Earth, or something like that. Sir Lawrence Olivier came second in this selection on the BBC website open to all citizens of the world. And Govinda made it to the Top Ten ahead of Marlon Brando. Mickey Mouse didn’t make it, Homer Simpson did. Last week came the cheerfu
One of the most important characteristic features of the innovation ecosystem emerging in India is that a lot of good ideas are found in small institutions in small towns. The connect between the real-life problems and the pursuit of their solutions seems quite high in such places. In Gujarat, the cooperation between techpedia.in of the Society for Research and Initiatives for Su
India is big on theory when it comes to development and poverty reduction, says international political economist professor Jean-Pierre Lehmann. He says the approach should be pragmatic, not theoretical. The French economist, working in Switzerland for over 13 years, favours philosophers running the country - in line with philosopher Plato`s beliefs. In an interview with Trithesh Nandan
His focus, he said, would be a successful rollout of the national rural livelihood mission (NRLM), a restructured form of rural development ministry’s Swarnjayanti Grameen Swarojgar Yojna (SGSY) and an effective implementation of the rural development ministry’s schemes in the left wing extremism (LWE) affected regions. No doubt, NRLM, with stated objective to reach out to
Broadly speaking, there are two categories of information which a public authority has to provide under the Right to Information (RTI) Act - information sought by the applicant by filing application under the act and information made available suo-moto (without somebody asking for it). While the situation appears to be somewhat fine with the former category, it is the latter whic
A new social audit belies the government`s claims of working towards social inclusion. A study by Delhi-based Social Equity Watch claims that dalits, tribal people and minorities are denied key infrastructure facilities at the village level itself. It also says that these facilities generally serve the general and backward castes (BC) people better. “The schedule castes (SCs), sch
An afternoon class is on in a primary school. Children are reciting the second chapter of Bhagvad Gita, in the Gujarati poetic translation by Kishorelal Mashruwala, a close associate of Gandhi. I am not sure if it was the third standard or the fourth, but much of the details are fresh in my mind. The music teacher’s voice, the rhythmic recitation, all of us getting supremely bored and wai
Some girls are special, not because they have special abilities, but because they learn what is OBC before ABC. Other backward classes. Like my domestic help’s daughter who thought, this was a class just like classes in school, which would get over once school did. But it didn’t. After she finished class 10, she learnt that OBC was more important than ABC. While apply
There is a little bit of SAIL in everybody’s life. This line from Steel Authority of India Ltd’s ad campaign is now familiar to most of the Indians. The share sale of the state-run firm is expected to mop up Rs 6,000 crore at then current market prices around Diwali. Unbelievable! SAIL is the same PSU that in February 2000 posted losses of around Rs 1,500 crore but the government ca
I mentioned in a previous column how small towns were producing big innovations, how small institutions were producing big minds and even bigger hearts. Concern for social needs, whether of small industry or the informal sector, is not found universally among all social, professional or educational segments. But those who have it often are motivated by the urge to produce innovations for larger
Dear Arunaji, Since the day Anna Hazare sat on fast at Jantar Mantar demanding the passage of a strong Lokpal bill, you have emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the anti-graft ombudsman proposed by Team Anna. You have expressed your disagreement through various newspaper articles and TV interviews. In this scenario, I doubt if many people know that it was y
