-The Hindu EDI in District Information System for Education released Bangalore: The State stands fifth in the Composite Educational Development Index (EDI) contained in the recent District Information System for Education (DISE) 2012-2013 provisional report. Last year, the State had secured three ranks higherthan this. This year, the EDI is 0.661. EDI is calculated using a set of 24 indicators under four sub-groups such as access, infrastructure, teachers and outcome indicators. The data...

-The United Nations Nearly 230 million children under the age of five have not had their births officially recorded, excluding them from education, health care and social security, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today reported. That is approximately one in three of all children under five who are unregistered or lack proof of registration, the agency said in a report released to coincide with its 67th birthday. "Birth registration is more than...

-Frontline In a situation of increasing life expectancy and crumbling traditional support structures, a universal social pension scheme that does not rely on contribution by a person or an employer can help the elderly. INDIA prides itself on being a "young" society, likely to benefit from a demographic dividend as children and young people move into working age groups over the next decade. This optimistic view assumes that society will be able...

-The United Nations Despite significant progress in meeting international development goals for women's empowerment, gaps in key areas remain, which require a renewed effort from all partners to better integrate gender issues into the overall quest for sustainable development, a United Nations gender equality official said today. "It is ... essential to harness the synergies between gender equality, women's rights and empowerment with sustainable development in its three dimensions - economic, social,...

-The Hindu India has the largest programme, catering to over 114 million children A global report by the World Food Project (WFP) for 2013 on 169 countries has said that India has the largest school feeding programme in the world, catering to over 114 million children, but stands 12thamong 35 lower-middle-income countries covering 79 per cent of its total number of school-going children. The report titled "State of School Feeding Worldwide, 2013" draws...