-The Hindu In the week of the survey in September, about one in three rural children had done no learning activity at all. About 20% of rural children have no textbooks at home, according to the Annual State of Education Report (ASER) survey conducted in September, the sixth month of school closures due to COVID-19 across the country. In Andhra Pradesh, less than 35% of children had textbooks, and only 60% had...

-Down to Earth Manpower minimised, water used in the process recycled; environmentalists hail the model, but implementation under cloud Idol immersion in Kolkata has turned a new leaf in the wake of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic through the ‘wash-and-melt’ model. Tridhara Akalbodhon, a club in south Kolkata, used water jets to melt its durga idols instead of immerising them. Environmentalists, too, have hailed the model as environment-friendly. The idols were positioned through...

-The Hindu What we have done so far, and what all remains to be done The global pandemic is marching on. As I had said at the JRD Tata Oration, hosted by the Population Foundation of India on its 50th anniversary, of the lessons I have learned over the last nine or 10 months, the most important one is the significance of investing in public health and primary healthcare. Countries that invested...

-The Indian Express Over the first half of 2020, while average wealth rose by only 1.7 per cent, Credit Suisse estimated that the full rise for 2020 will be 5-6 per cent and 2021 will see growth of about 9 per cent. The average wealth of Indian adults rose marginally by $120 (about Rs 8,800) to $17,420 (Rs 12.77 lakh) at end-June 2020, as against $17,300 as of December 2019, showing some...

-Altnews.in “Lies, damned lies and statistics”. The phrase is often used to show that numbers have a persuasive power but when presented selectively they have the power to mislead. In his recent address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted some statistics to explain how India is managing the coronavirus pandemic better than many developed countries. The PM stated that India has 5,500 cases per 10 lakh (million) as compared...