In the midst of irregular monsoons affecting agriculture, a new report shows stagnation in the state of irrigation infrastructure. The recent report entitled Infrastructure Statistics 2014 (Third Issue) by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has provided information that despite the rise in expenditure on irrigation infrastructure, there has been no substantial improvement in the gross irrigation potential utilized*. Athough expenditure on irrigation has increased from Rs. 36561.64 crores...

-Down to Earth The true potential of the Fifth Schedule was diluted right at its conception Incontrovertibly, the object of creating the Fifth Schedule was to make a special instrument for the welfare and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes. It was formulated for the implementation of the Directive Principle that the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of ...... the Schedules Tribes, and shall protect them from...

-The Hindu   The central policy challenge for the new government is how to sustain social gains while ensuring that Dalits can participate more meaningfully in the economy, by sharing in the fruits of economic growth while contributing as well In his address to the nation on Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his intention to "take a solemn pledge of working for... the welfare of the poor, oppressed, Dalits, the exploited...

-Live Mint Govt schools in Bihar test grouping children by level of learning instead of age for improving outcomes Jehanabad (Bihar): It's just after breakfast and barefoot children trickle into the classroom. Brightly coloured posters adorn the white walls-the solar system, a counting and phonetic chart, parts of the body, and a portrait of a radiant B.R. Ambedkar, a builder of modern India. It looks like any other government school classroom. But...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Tuesday stunned the CBI brass, describing the agency as 'department of dirty tricks (DDT)' which had gained disrepute for being the "government's hatchet", clothed in opacity with a perfume of mystery. Gandhi's remarks came while he delivered the 15th D P Kohli Memorial Lecture for CBI on "Eclipse at Noon: Shadows Over India's Conscience" with nearly 3000 officers of...