-The Indian Express Gadchiroli: A top Naxal Leader who surrendered recently has said that the government’s twin strategy of security with development has begun to hurt the Maoists, leaving the morale of their cadre affected. “The senior Leadership of the party (CPI Maoist) is worried over setbacks due to Operation Greenhunt and the various developmental works undertaken by the government in remote areas of districts like Gadchiroli,” Badarpu Mallaiyya alias Shekhar, the...

-DNA Many have forgotten the bad news that was delivered about a year back when three reports – the international PISA report, the Wipro-EI Quality Education Study and ASER 2011 – painted a sad picture of the learning scenario in India. The first report ranked our Class 10 children 73rd in the world out of 74 countries. The second said that students in our top private schools were learning more poorly...

-The Telegraph Bengal Leads in dependence on private tuition but bottom of the pack in basics More schoolchildren in Bengal take private tuition than in most other states but they are anything but the best when tested for basic reading and arithmetic skills, a national survey has revealed. Although the survey by the NGO Pratham focused on schoolchildren going to government institutions in the districts, teachers say students of the top schools...

-The Telegraph A rights organisation today accused the Centre and state governments of giving huge, unaccounted grants to NGOs including blacklisted ones, often against a bribe. The Asian Centre for Human Rights said it was basing its claims on replies to a series of RTI applications it had filed in 2010. Releasing the report, “India’s Funds to NGOs Squandered”, the rights body’s director, Suhas Chakma, made these claims at a news conference...

-Outlook Jaipur: Social activists, including NAC member Aruna Roy, today attacked the Centre accusing it of being "indifferent" to implementing the laws relating to RTI and MNREGA and having no concern with the issues of comman man. A gathering of organisations associated with information and employment rights campaigns said they were of the view, "that all the top Leaders are organizing the Chintan Camps but on the other hand have no concern...