India took another step towards universal elementary education last year, with 96.5% of all children aged 6-14 years being enrolled in schools, an extensive private audit has revealed. NGO Pratham`s Annual Survey of Education Report says the proportion of girls in the age group of 11-14 years too increased to 94.1% although quality of education remained a big concern. The survey, the only private audit of elementary education in the country,...

Biometric cards for free medical care VS puts the blame on unscientific spraying Says Centre should give matching relief Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on Friday inaugurated the disbursal of enhanced pension and biometric cards to persons afflicted with serious ailments and permanent disabilities suspected to be caused by the aerial spraying of Endosulfan on the cashew estates of the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK) in the district. The biometric card will make them...

Indian schools have a long way to go before they meet conditions required under the landmark Right to Education Act, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2010 released today by NGO Pratham said. This was the first time that the RTE Act -- implemented from April 1, 2010 -- was factored into the survey. Rated on seven infrastructure parameters they are required to meet under the RTE Act, only 3%...

The deaths of 18 lakh girl children in India in the past two decades have for the first time been linked to domestic violence against their mothers. After examining over 1.58 lakh births that took place between 1985 and 2005, an international team of researchers found that spousal violence against wives increased the risk of death among female children, but not male children, in both the first year and the first...

If home minister P Chidambaram’s recent letter to West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is any indication, it has taken the Union home ministry seven years to realise that arming civilians to fight Naxalites is a bad idea. How much longer will it take for them to realise that the current paramilitary-based approach in Chhattisgarh is similarly bound to fail? From 2003 onwards, the home ministry has followed a policy of...