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No education policy will prove to be of any worth unless the annual budgetary allocation for improvement of education is substantially increased. Besides the most important issue that needs an explanation from the government is what kind of education it envisages to provide to the students of the country.

The Union cabinet has recently approved the proposal to sell government stake in 23 public sector enterprises (PSEs). Disclosing the decision, finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman said that disinvestment of BPCL, Air India and Railways (partially) would help the government meet its divestment target of Rs 1 lakh crore in the current fiscal year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the nation stressed the need for ‘Atmanirbharata’ or self-reliance in Indian economy. He even urged people to ‘go local’ to improve quality and domestic supply chains going forward. Privatisation of PSEs is nothing but a part of neo-liberal agenda to serve the interests of domestic and especially the global capital. It neither has solutions to strengthen domestic public sector manufacturing and strengthening economic base nor creation of million jobs for unemployed in the country.

A year later or 50 days later or, shall we say, 500 years hence and we’re still squabbling; meaning, we haven’t changed at all in all these centuries. Why, there’s the Ramayana and there’s the Mahabharata to attest to the surety that man, especially the Bharatiye Manoos, is an indisputable candidate for carrying forward disputes, many of them without a leg to stand on.

A historic development that has empowered the Indian consumer like never before has gone largely unnoticed amidst the country’s preoccupation with the Covid pandemic and its dire consequences for the economy and the lives of the people.

There is a famous adage in Hindi “wife of the weakest poor is the Bhabhi (sister-in-law) of entire village). The axiom implies that the poor does not have respect and prestige. It may sound obnoxious, but the situation of the former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is more or less same in the Congress.

The economic shutdown occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing job losses have rekindled enthusiasm for the introduction of a universal basic income (UBI), a concept that manages to divide opinion not only between left and right, but within left and right circles too. Some of the reasons given for opposing UBI can actually be deployed in its favour, such is the range of positions adopted by its supporters and detractors.

New Delhi: Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer, on Tuesday hailed the decision to hold the IPL 2020 in the UAE saying in the present challenging conditions this is the best possible way out.

New Delhi: Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday urged the states to organise State-level Khelo India Games annually to identify and nurture a larger number of grassroot-level talents.

As has become trademark of the Narendra Modi government during the COVID-19 pandemic, once again Parliament has been side-stepped in a matter of national importance as the Union Cabinet approved the National Education Policy. As a matter of great national importance that will affect India’s future, the government must immediately withhold the implementation of the policy till it is debated in Parliament. It is unfortunate that the government did not think it worthy to discuss and debate the NEP in Parliament before it was adopted.

For the first time since Sonia Gandhi took over as the Congress President after the resignation of Rahul Gandhi last August, the rift between the old guard loyal to Sonia and the Team Rahul has come out wide in the open. The reason for the frustration is simple. Both the old guard and the younger leaders are frustrated with the status quo stand of the party when it needs a new push to revive. Moreover, when Sonia handed over the baton to her son Rahul in 2017, she did not take care to reconcile both the camps with the result both are getting impatient.