Considerable sections of the urban population may face serious food insecurity even while the urban economy grows. There is a need for urgent action on this front. Over the two decades of rapid growth of the Indian economy, the urban economy is generally perceived as having done very well. However, high urban economic growth need not by itself imply improved living standards for all urban residents. In particular, the recent and...

Bhaggu, 65, says he can trace his memory back to when he was five. And he remembers the paradox that’s taunted him since: Of his village — Sohras, in northern Uttar Pradesh — being flooded every year and him having no water to drink. “They (government) distribute food, tarpaulin, kerosene, matchboxes but never made any arrangement for water,” says Bhaggu, a farm worker who goes by one name. “I think no...

As millions of children around the world start school this month, many are discovering something critical is missing. It's not teachers or textbooks - it's Toilets. Poor sanitation doesn't just cause high rates of illness and absenteeism, but it also affects a child's intelligence, aid agencies say, with research showing that diarrhoea and worm infestations can lower IQ. Sanitation is one of the most wildly off-track targets under the United Nations' anti-poverty...

Segregation could lead to discrimination. Grading in any private school will lead to complications. Schools cannot expel students however grave their misbehaviour... These were some concerns raised at a workshop on the Right to Education bill organized by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( FKCCI) on Monday. B Gayethri Devi, principal, Little Flower Public School, questioned: "Every school is independent and varies in its mission and...

Curriculum and classroom teaching in Delhi University at the post-graduate level does not reflect adequate gender sensitivity, a gender audit conducted by the University's Women's Study and Development Centre has revealed. As per the post-graduate level gender audit report, though most of the Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines do have gender components in their syllabi, it is inadequate and teacher participation in workshops and seminars on gender issues is “rather low.” The...