-The Hindu Business Line Although literacy levels are improving, there’s not enough learning happening. This calls for urgent attention This year, marks the 50th year of International Literacy Day. In 1966, UNESCO declared September 8 as International Literacy Day to “mobilize the international community and to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities and societies”. At Independence in 1947, India had a literacy rate of 12 per cent, which stands today...

-The Indian Express The clause lists cases where users are exempted from copyright infringement and includes teachers and students “in the course of the activities of an educational institution”. Copyright is not absolute and nor should it be, according to the Delhi High Court. Last week, the court ruled against five prominent academic publishing houses including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Taylor & Francis, allowing Rameshwari Photocopy Services (based in...

-The Times of India PATNA: "I am disappointed to find no further progress in the public distribution system (PDS) in the state", says noted development economist Jean Dreze in a letter addressed to the Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. In a letter to CM Nitish Kumar on Monday Dreze said: "As you know, we have been watching the PDS in Bihar with keen interest. We were impressed with the rapid improvements that...

-Business Standard Fingerprint failure reports of existing Aadhaar-linked PDS cases not revealed The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has decided to complete the linking the bank accounts to Aadhaar numbers of all the beneficiaries of large social schemes, including the National Food Security Act, by March 2017. Once done, the delivery of these schemes would be based on biometric authentication linked to Aadhaar or direct cash transfers to linked bank accounts of...

-Hindustan Times The funding for and motivations of NGOs have often been a bone of contention between the government and civil society. So it is a positive move that the Supreme Court (SC) has stepped in and decided to review laws governing NGOs with the aim of looking into the adequacy of the regulatory mechanism to prevent financial irregularities and ensuring that funds are used for the stated goals. This has...