-The Economic Times The Supreme Court has refused to exempt minority aided schools from the purview of the Right to Education Act, asking them to reserve at least 25% of their seats from Class I onwards for children from weaker and disadvantaged sections living in the neighbourhood as mandated by the Act. The order, passed by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia, also said these institutions should...

-The Telegraph The Planning Commission has accepted a proposal by scientists to create new academic centres for cognitive science, cyber security and other fields to be shared by scholars and faculty from universities across India. The proposal for inter- university centres (IUCs) is among key initiatives in science and technology planned during the 12th Five-Year Plan that covers the period up to 2017, K. Kasturirangan, a member of the Planning Commission, told...

-IPS News RAYAGADA- The deafening din of the lunch gong is sweet music to the 200-odd tribal girls rushing down the stairway, clutching stainless steel plates and tumblers. Sikhsya Niketan (House of Education) in Chattikona administrative block of Rayagada district is a residential school meant exclusively for girls of the Dongria Kondh tribe in eastern Odisha state. The school is part of the federal government’s intensified efforts to take universal education to...

-The Times of India PANAJI: Three cases of food poisoning were reported back-to-back last year after students consuming midday meals. This has forced authorities to keep a close watch on midday meal suppliers as well as school staff. The Union human resource development ministry began quarterly monitoring of the implementation of the midday meal scheme in states and Union territories across the country since June last year. Goa has registered huge improvements...

Direct cash transfers or food coupons should be used by the government to provide services to the poor, says Farzana Afridi, Assistant Professor, Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Afridi, who obtained her PhD in economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an MA in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, says that although the Mid Day Meal Programme is having a substantial effect, the...