-The Telegraph New Delhi: Studying in an English-medium school does not automatically make your child proficient in English, a comparison of two nationwide surveys on school enrolment trends and performance in English suggests. One in three schoolchildren goes to English-medium schools in Himachal Pradesh while one in 30 does so in Bengal, according to a survey by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). But Class X students in Bengal, sampled...
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Don't eulogise Amma for her freebie politics -SA Aiyar
-The Times of India blog Authoritarian leadership, big corruption, and endless freebies for the masses. These were the hallmarks of Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa (popularly called Amma) who died last week. In this week of mourning, she has been praised by even her bitter political foes. Yet this political correctness must not distort her electoral record. Since the 1970s, power in Tamil Nadu has oscillated between the DMK and Amma’s AIADMK....
More »Parched South: Drinking water woes, failed crops force people to migrate -Vikram Gopal
-Hindustan Times Deficient rainfall has led to a severe drought in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala with 54 out of 76 districts in the three states facing acute water shortage that has left farmers the worst hit. In Karnataka, where the northeast monsoon (Oct to Dec) has been 79% deficient, water in major reservoirs is down by half, drinking water is getting scarce and migration has been reported from many villages, government...
More »The rice that changed the world -K Deepalakshmi
-The Hindu IR8, the high-yielding rice variety helped India fight famine, turns 50 this month In 1967, when a 29-year-old N. Subba Rao sowed a semidwarf variety of rice in over 2,000 hectares in Atchanta, West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, he wouldn't have thought he would be part of a revolution in rice cultivation. What Dr. Rao sowed in his farm was IR-8, a rice variety developed by the International Rice Research...
More »Rabi sowing slows down
-The Hindu Business Line Bengaluru/ Ahmedabad: Though acreage under the main rabi (winter) crops, such as wheat, gram and mustard continued to rise, overall sowing for the season across the country has turned sluggish as cash-strapped farmers have slowed down planting. According to preliminary data released by the Agriculture Ministry, acreage under rabi crops till November 18 stood lower, at 241.73 lakh hectares, compared to 243.38 lakh ha in the corresponding period...
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