-The Telegraph New Delhi: Human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar has announced plans to integrate 1,000 hours of compulsory skill training with the academic activities of undergraduate students to make them employable. But some academicians expressed fears that the move might dilute the main course for which they had enrolled themselves. "The BA, BCom and BSc students will get 1,000 hours of professional training. They will get 250 hours of training on soft...

-Livemint.com Youth in rural India are often forced to work in their family farms, but they prefer joining the army or becoming engineers, teachers or nurses, the survey shows New Delhi: Youth in rural India are often forced to work in their family farms, but they prefer joining the army or becoming engineers, teachers or nurses, found a survey released last week. A large number of rural youth in the 14-18 year age...

-Hindustan Times The audit also recommended abolishing admission quotas, including those under the discretion of the vice-chancellor; no official reason was given for the audit. New Delhi: The Aligarh Muslim University must abolish separate colleges for male and female undergraduate students, do away with discretionary admission quotas and merge the departments for Sunni and Shia studies, a government-backed audit of the institution has suggested. These are among the top recommendations the audit made...

-The Indian Express The rights-based approach departs from the ‘assurance-based approach’ of the new National Health Policy, which essentially perpetuates the status quo, explains The Indian Express. Since the time the Mental Health Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha in 2013, decriminalisation of suicide has been its calling card. However, the legislation travels beyond just that colonial era relic, assuming a rights-based approach to mental healthcare, and creating circumstances for removal of...

-The Hindu Meerut: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to Aligarh Muslim University about alleged discrimination against girls in the university, asking for an explanation. Last week The Hindu had reported that some professional UG courses apart, women were barred from enrolling in undergraduate courses in the main campus of AMU. Instead, they went to the Women’s college, which has very limited resources Chairperson’s letter In a letter to the AMU Vice-Chancellor,...