PARENTS SEE EDUCATION IS ROLLING IN ANDHRA PRADESH

By Sarat Chandra / Hyderabad

Poverty continues to shape the experience of children in India as it impacts many areas of their lives from health and education to future opportunities, according to a new research by Young Lives India.

The research, compiled in a book titled ‘Changing Lives in Andhra Pradesh: Young Lives Children Growing Up’, found that children and their families may have higher aspirations, but their chances in life are often heavily influenced by where they are born and their family circumstances.

WHY ASSAM IS FERTILE GROUND FOR MAOISTS?

By Sunderlal Behruaa / Dispur

Decades of militancy have pushed Assam back by ages, economically and otherwise. Now as the state finds a semblance of normalcy, there’s a new menace threatening to undo all the good work over the years. It’s the Maoists. While no incident of violence by the Left ultras has been registered so far, there are clear indications that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) is making a serious effort to strengthen its base in the state. The broader aim is to make it part of the zones under their control.

DEVELOPMENT IS FAR CRY, AP CM IS WORKING FOR 'PILERU'

By Ramesh Reddy / Hyderabad

The Rs 150 crore grant was meant for all the 294 assembly constituencies. But chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has splurged it only on Pileru constituency in his native Chittoor district that is represented by him in the Assembly. In a record of sorts, the state government has released Rs 102.6 crore for various development works in Pileru in the last 15 days. 
    
After taking over as chief minister, Kiran Kumar had set up the Special Development Fund (SDF) for taking up works that are not part of the regular plan in all the assembly constituencies. For the financial year 2013-14, the state has sanctioned Rs 600 crore for the SDF and for the first quarter, the finance department released Rs 150 crore.

CRICKET SITUATION ANALYSIS: 'RIP THE VEIL OF SILENCE'

By Ayaz Memon (Guest Writer)

It is about time senior cricketers spoke up against the mess that has beset cricket in India. The IPL fixingbetting mess calls for introducing a strict system of checks and balances on Indian cricket. 

The end of the sixth season of the Indian Premier League has been in dismal conditions, with not just the league and the Board of Control for Cricket in India sullied, but the game of cricket itself being adversely affected. 

'THE FAT MUMMY, THE SCAPEGOAT FOR CHILD OBESITY'

By Neha Anand / New Delhi

Fat Indian mommies are raising fatty kids. That is the conclusion of a 4-city survey conducted by the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation which found that 64.8 per cent of mothers surveyed in Delhi, Agra, Pune and Bangalore were overweight or obese, as were 19.2 per cent of their sons and 18.1 per cent of their daughters.

The authors of the study blame the high-calorie effect of maternal love on a number of factors. One is the traditional Indian mindset. “Despite the obesity of their children they are fussing over them and if the child is overweight they consider them healthy rather than fat,” Dr Anoop Misra told the The Telegraph (UK). He claims this misguided attitude has been shaped by and transmitted by grandmothers “who had known famine.”

TRIBUTE: THE MAN BEHIND BENGAL'S CINEMA RENAISSANCE

By Richa Rai / Kolkata

“But, my city, I know, can neither handle me nor ignore me,” filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh had said in a recent interview. There’s no doubt Ghosh was something of an agent provocateur in both Kolkata and Indian cinema. From the subjects he chose to explore in his films to the way he dressed, Ghosh was always urging us to reconsider the stereotypes that we take for granted as normal.

But from the grief and shock that’s evident in the reactions to his passing this morning, it’s obvious that for all the thorn that Ghosh may have been in convention’s side, the filmmaker was also much admired and beloved.

OPINION: BJP 'ALL SET' TO REPEAT '2009 BLUNDERS'!

By Dr. Subhash Kapila (Guest Writer)

In 2013 as I survey the Indian political scene the most striking point that hits the mind is that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to repeat the 2009 blunders and has failed to politically exploit the issues of migovernance and corruption of the ruling Congress Party. The magic, the passion and convictions of a Party that had raised India’s expectations is missing. All because of a paralysed apex level BJP political leaders’ in a self-destruct mode intent on checkmating the rise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the popular choice of emerging as India’s next Prime Minister.

DIGNIFIED CHANDRABABU NAIDU FALLS WITH 'LOOSE TALKS'

By M H Ahssan / Hyderabad

Telugu Desam Supremo Chandrababu Naidu’s asides replete with allegations of watching x-rated pornographic movies by inmates in prisons, especially in Chanchalguda central prison, need not be covered-up as a general observation. It doesn’t pass muster that way. The remarks of Naidu are absurd and don’t augur well for his tall stature.