-Down to Earth Collective rights to undo historic injustice meted out to indigenous people remain completely ignored by the states, says Citizens’ report Ten years after the historic Forest Rights Act (FRA) was passed by the Indian lawmakers, only three per cent of villages or communities could secure their rights over forest resources which include land and the produce from the forests and water, states the Citizens’ Report prepared by Community...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Pre-school kids who have a better understanding of concepts like distance and shape have a higher chance of excelling in studies in later years, a new study has concluded. Rather than numbers and alphabets, the stress should be on helping children understand these concepts, a key person behind the exercise told The Telegraph. The Indian Early Childhood Impact Study assessed around 13,000 five-year-olds from Assam, Rajasthan and undivided Andhra...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Studying in an English-medium school does not automatically make your child proficient in English, a comparison of two nationwide surveys on school enrolment trends and performance in English suggests. One in three schoolchildren goes to English-medium schools in Himachal Pradesh while one in 30 does so in Bengal, according to a survey by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). But Class X students in Bengal, sampled...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Participating as a volunteer in the Centre's financial literacy campaign for a cashless economy will yield academic credits to students of higher educational institutions, including the IITs. The Union HRD ministry has launched a scheme called the Vittiya Saksharta Abhiyan (Visaka) under which heads of institutions have been advised to give students credits for taking forward the Prime Minister's agenda. "Directors of all institutions should ensure that the necessary...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government has taken a slew of measures to ensure that cash requirements of farmers are not adversely impacted due to the demonetisation exercise, even as it has urged farmers to join the movement for cashless transactions in the ongoing sowing season. About 50 farmers did their first cashless transaction at the event and bought seeds and fertilisers in the presence of Union ministers. Agriculture Minister Radha...