-The Times of India NEW delhi: After the success with opening bank accounts and two insurance schemes, the government is lining up a major push for retirement savings under its financial inclusion programme. The finance ministry has begun talks to rope in 1.5 lakh post offices along with kirana shops and chemists to sell pension plans with an assurance of minimum returns. Sources told TOI that the department of posts, which is...

-The Hindu Tactile books with maps and diagrams for visually challenged students will become a reality soon with the National Council of Educational Research and Training introducing them in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, delhi. So far, books in Braille had no maps and diagrams. The NCERT is seeking suggestions from the States before it can start the process. “The exercise calls for a special training for teachers, but we...

-The Economic Times NEW delhi: Even as the Narendra Modi government is trying to formulate a politically acceptable Land Acquisition Bill, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has asked all state governments to submit their land acquisition legislations to check if they have built in adequate safeguards for Scheduled Tribes. The move comes after BJP-ruled Rajasthan government's legislation irked the commission. NCST has served a notice to Rajasthan government for deviating from...

-The Indian Express Education outcomes may have declined under the RTE, but scrapping the no-detention policy is not the answer. In the five years since the potentially transformative Right to Education Act (RTE) was implemented, several studies have documented the decline and stagnation of learning levels in school. The Annual Status of Education Reports have painted a dismal picture. Most children emerge from primary school lacking even rudimentary arithmetic and reading...

-Hindustan Times If you thought climate change was only about melting glaciers and sinking islands, you have underestimated it. A report by C40, a global network of 82 megacities--including delhi--committed to fighting climate change, says that at least 70% of these urban centres are already affected by climate change. Not all of them are coast or hill towns. As population is increasing in these megacities, rising pollution, growing congestion and mounting waste...