-The Hindustan Times Angry that unaided minority schools have been exempt from the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the Forum for Fairness in Education (FFIE) plans to file a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay high court. FFIE is challenging a notification exempting schools from reserving seats for children from economically weak families. The latest RTE notification, uploaded on a government website on March 20, said unaided minority schools will not...

-The Hindu Natpurwa is a village where women have been forced into prostitution for centuries. And one of them is determined to help the others break free. Round faced, stout and dusky, Chandralekha, at age 15, was the most desired girl among the politicians, policemen and senior members of Eastern Uttar Pradesh’s civil society. “They always wanted plump women,” says Chandralekha, now 51 years old. Chandralekha was pushed into prostitution, by her...

-New Indian Express A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has come down heavily on Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s ambitious plan to plug the huge shortfall in the rural healthcare sector with science graduates. Expressing surprise at the minister’s proposal, the panel headed by BSP MP Brijesh Pathak said, “Instead of providing doctors in villages, the Centre is coming up with a scheme to get...

-The Indian Express Patna: In yet another attempt to consolidate his “caste-neutral” base among women, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced 35 per cent reservation for them in police jobs. Bihar Police is estimated to have 43,000 job vacancies, including of 25,000 constables, over the next five years. "Reserving 35 per cent seats for women will be another step towards women empowerment that started with the government giving 50 per cent reservation...

-Live Mint HRD minister says government will push for the fulfilment of RTE's conditions even after deadline ends A week before the implementation deadline for its flagship Right to Education (RTE) Act expires, the government on Friday accepted that it had failed to achieve many of the targets of what it envisaged as a landmark measure. At least 13 states have written to the human resource development (HRD) ministry for an extension owing...