Eminent neurologist says kids should not be robbed of their right to grow in a natural way by “restricting [their] learning competence” with education in a foreign language like English An award-winning Jaipur-based neurologist has advocated imparting primary education to children in their mother-tongue, saying it would produce youngsters possessing “fundamentally strong personalities” bestowed with wisdom, motivation, better communication skills and creativity. In his new study, Dr. Ashok Panagariya – honoured with...

The Assembly elections this year, followed by squabbles and tussles between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the CPM at various Gram panchayats and panchayat samitis after the regime change, have spelt doom for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in West Bengal. In the seven months from April 1 to October 31, only 19 days of jobs could be given to 2.55 lakh families and 4.17 crore mandays could...

-The Times of India   The frustration of Vidarbha farmers was brought to the state government's notice in a bizarre incident on Sunday. A distressed farmer drank poison in front of the chief minister and thousands of agriculturists at a public meeting in Amravati district on Sunday. Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was addressing a municipal poll campaign meeting in Dhamangaon Railway taluka of Amravati. Soon after he began his speech, farmer Arun Sabhane...

JANGU, 40, a Dalit labourer in Paraspur village in Gonda district, 120 km northeast of Lucknow, displays his job card in complete disbelief. “My job card was made three years ago and shows three payments. But I was never given any work, so how was the payment made?” he asks, puzzled. The first entry shows a payment of Rs 1,400 but he received a paltry Rs 100. He never went...

-The Times of India   The Supreme Court on Friday ordered an investigation into whether the benefits of government's welfare proGrammes like NREGA were reaching the intended beneficiaries and to fix accountability for ensuring that they do, in what is going to be a gigantic exercise. A bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya appointed senior advocate Indu Malhotra as amicus curiae and asked her to study the details...