Every child is unique in her/his way. The uniqueness has more significance as children go through different stages of development right from early childhood till adolescence. The developmental stages are not mutually exclusive, since each stage is influenced by the experience(s) of its preceding stage. The changes are also dependent on the interplay between the nature and nurture of children.

While trying to understand theories around development, a plethora of contexts come into consideration. Some of them may include families, peers, schools and neighbourhoods. These contexts are non-exhaustive and cannot be looked at in isolation. Yet, they are distinct in…

The economist classes the newspapers as ‘a conventional necessity’ of modern life. Indeed there are many people who would forego their breakfast rather than miss the morning paper. Today the press, ‘the fourth estate’ is the most powerful of all the estates of the realm.

The uses of the press are many. Its main function is no doubt the supply of correct and up-to-date news collected from the four corners of the world. In India we have the government subsidised Press Agencies. These Press Agencies are so active and alert that nothing of note happens in any part of the…

Prices of Commodities in the market in a free economy are fixed by the interaction of the forces of demand and supply. If there is no governmental intervention prices of the articles whose supply is restricted or demand increases, tend to rise. In case of essential items, the fluctuations in market prices are very large. Since farm produce is generally perishable, their prices tend to vary in different regions. This is the position in a free economy. But the situation in the world today, particularly in the developing countries, is that the government is always alive to check unreasonable increases…

In the not so distant past, India was the world’s fastest growing economy with GDP growth rate of about 7.5%. But various reports have shown that there is decline over the aggregate numbers of jobs created over the past few years. As many as 5 million jobs were lost between 2004–05 and 2009–10, paradoxically during the time when India witnessed the highest and consistent 8% growth in its economy. On one hand, about 13 million youths were entering the labour force every year and on the other hand, the gap for employment and growth only widened.

Reasons for Jobless Growth:

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A smart city is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communication and market viability. It is a city where information technology is principle infrastructure and the basis for providing essential service.

Cities are currently known as engines of growth, as they contribute approximately 60% to overall GDP. Despite economic importance, urbanisation in India is characterised by haphazard and illegal construction, growth of unplanned urban sprawl and slums and deteriorating social services. This has made cities highly polluted, unhygienic and vulnerable to natural hazard and biological hazard (dengue, malaria). …

Governance aims at efficient and effective administration in a democratic framework, by promoting transparency, openness, accountability, rule of law and participation of the ‘governed’. The concept of governance extends the scope of public administration beyond the ‘formal government’ and seeks to build collaborative interdependent partnerships among the citizen, private sector, the voluntary organisations and the various government structures. The emphasis in this new paradigm is on ‘collective problem-solving’ rather than ‘individual problem-solving’.

In good governance, it is people at the centre of the development process. In order to be citizen centric it should be participative, transparent, responsive and accountable to…

The initial lockdown helped India scramble through pressures that its healthcare industry would have faced like a storm. But post lockdown India is witnessing the predicted rise in cases. Undoubtedly, only new legislation will help contain COVID-19 cases.

Amid the capricious decisions of unilateralism, micro-management, and federalism, the country went through a whirlwind of regulations, orders, and guidelines. Our inadequacy in terms of laws, to deal with such an outbreak, were brutally made bare. …

In the words of Dr BR Ambedkar, “… however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot. However bad a Constitution may be, it may turn out to be good if those who are called to work it, happen to be a good lot.”

Democracy has moral virtue; it is the only acceptable form of an efficacious government. In his paper, Larry Diamond states the paradoxes of democracy. These become apparent through its nature of being an “institutionalized competition for power”. For…