Remote teaching and learning promoted by Edtech companies as an alternative to physical classrooms, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, may have a sizeable consumer base in our country. However, at the bottom of the pyramid, there are only a few takers of online education. In reality, class and caste-divide, which is more prominent in rural areas, affects access to digital learning. The majority of the school going...

-Livemint.com The easy part is nearly done but India lacks the Data back-up and processes needed now for full coverage To quicken the pace of covid vaccination and its equitable distribution, we are working with over 500 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across 12 states. By end October, our effort will scale up to over 3,000 PHCs across some 20 states, helping serve about 100-120 million people in a wide range of geographies—from...

-Down to Earth West Rajasthan stares at drought, records rainfall deficit of 24% till September 7 Scant rainfall in the already arid Bikaner district of Rajasthan has triggered a fear of acute drought and distress. Reports of cattle dying due to starvation have started trickling in. The district received rainfall only once in July, followed by a scant spell in the first week of September in a few areas, according to farmers. It recorded...

-Scroll.in Limited testing means cases and deaths are going undetected in the state. This year, Uttar Pradesh has reported 1,069 dengue cases to the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, the central government’s nodal agency on vector borne diseases. However, it has not reported a single death caused by dengue, Data from the agency’s regional office shows. This, despite the fact that more than 50 people have died of fever in the past...

-Livemint.com Beset by poor technology access and ineffective online classes, students from poor households have lost reading abilities significantly, suggests a new survey covering 15 states. The losses are much more stark for students from marginalized communities With most Indian schools shut for the past year and a half, children from poor households, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds, are rapidly forgetting what they had learned before the pandemic, new survey Data suggests. Less...