-The Hindu In a far-reaching decision, the Rajasthan government has announced that a person below 18 years will be considered as a child labourer if he or she is employed. Accepting the long-pending demand of child rights groups, the government announced a comprehensive standard operating procedure (SOP) for identification, rescue, protection and rehabilitation of children employed in various occupations. The decision has come as a major triumph for advocacy groups seeking the abolition...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: A day after a Notification about the amendment to the Right to Education (RTE) Act was released on the government website, unaided minority schools are busy planning their next move. This amendment clearly states that only theological schools are off the RTE hook, while the rest, including unaided minority schools, will have to follow even the 25% reservation clause under RTE. While most are still waiting...

-DNA Now, even private minority unaided schools will have to take in 25% children from the weaker sections. The central government has issued a Notification enforcing the latest amendment in the existing Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009). Following the Notification, the state will soon enforce the amendment across all schools except theological schools such as madrassas and vedic pathshalas. DNA had exclusively reported about the amendment on August...

-The Hindu Communist Party of India MP D. Raja has expressed concern at the State governments notifying buffer zones in tiger reserves. He argued that the move would violate the livelihood rights of lakhs of people. In a letter, he asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to halt the exercise and ensure that the Supreme Court is informed of the actual legal and ground positions. Failure to do so will amount to violation...

-The Hindu Certain section of population seeks relaxation of ban on tourism; specialists are against any dilution of the scheme The Tamil Nadu Government’s latest Notifications on demarcation of core and buffer zones of three tiger reserves in the State may still require a fine-tuning to strike a balance among ecology protection, tribal welfare and tourism promotion, feel conservationists and wildlife experts. As the demand for relaxation of the ban on tourism becomes...