Caste war in UP seems to be assuming different dimensions, proves recent spate of mid-day meal boycott in UP government schools. The two major incidents at Sonbhadra and Kannauj which LED to a lunch hour rebellion in more than a dozen schools over a month, were triggered off by a power-play between Dalits and backwards while the `savarnas\' -- in minuscule minority -- were relegated to the role of fringe...

School vouchers should be an integral part of the Centre’s plans to implement the Right to Education (RTE). For the state to spend gargantuan amounts on school education is fine, but to insist that the delivery too would be by the state is meaningless. Surveys have shown that government teachers are absent from their schools and children cannot do simple arithmetic or write small paragraphs after years of schooling. Reforms...

In a verdict that blows away the immunity clause avaiLED by Jammu and Kashmir-based central government organisations like the Indian Army while refusing to disclose information under the RTI Act, the Delhi High Court on Friday ruLED that such establishments were not precluded from the transparency law and were obligated to disclose information to the family of those posted in the state. Directing the Indian Army to hand over court...

Even as recent media reports caution that most fruits and vegetables are largely unfit for human consumption due to their high chemical content, pesticides continue to be used recklessly in the fields of Punjab. The ‘Granary of India’ constitutes 2.5 per cent of the total agricultural land in India, but consumes more than 18 per cent of the total pesticides used in India. Within the state the worst affected is the southwestern...

The government faiLED to reach an agreement with the Members of Parliament, who moved for amendments to the Seeds Bill on the issue of price regulation and penalty for failure of seeds in a meeting convened by the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar here on Wednesday. On other amendments, the members either convinced the government or got convinced. The government will now consult the Ministry of Law on the two issues, Mr...