Jharkhand's government schools have a massive teacher shortage, a survey by Gyan Vigyan Samiti Jharkhand has found. The survey was conducted in 138 primary and upper primary schools between September and October 2022 to assess their condition after the Covid-19 pandemic. Jharkhand's school system was shut for two years, among the longest in the world. Teachers told the surveyors they felt that most students had forgotten how to read and...

-Down to Earth Russian invasion of Ukraine sharply altered the dynamics of coal trade, prices, supply and demand patterns  India, along with China, is the world’s largest coal producer, consumer and importer. Its own coal production will surpass a billion tonnes by 2025, the annual report of the International Energy Agency (IEA), predicted December 16, 2022. Also, India’s coal consumption has doubled since 2007 at an annual growth rate of 6 per cent....

There is some respite expected for India in terms of prices of imported commodities. This may ease the depletion of its foreign exchange reserves. The country has faced a widening of its merchandise trade deficit from US$ -17.91 billion to US$ -26.91 billion between October 2021 and October 2022. The commodity price data provided by the World Bank in December 2022 (termed as The Pink Sheet) shows that energy prices plummeted by...

-PTI/ The Hindu The negotiations at the U.N. climate summit last year (COP26) in Glasgow ended with an agreement on phasing down the unabated use of coal instead of phasing out As negotiators from 194 parties started working out a draft cover text at the U.N. climate summit in Egypt, India on Saturday said meeting the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement requires "phase down of all fossil fuels", sources told PTI.  "Natural...

--Press release by National coalition on the Education Emergency dated November 9, 2022 The Delhi government had announced the closure of primary schools last week, as recommended by the NCPCR, owing to the air pollution crisis in the city. While the concern about the health and well-being of children is certainly valid, the response to such a crisis needs to take into account other contributing factors such as the importance of...