-The Deccan Herald Despite being one of the highly literate districts in the State, the scenario in Government schools is not very encouraging. There are several schools in taluk like Belthangady which have adequate number of students but have been running the show with just one teacher for all classes and all subjects, writes Bhakti V Hegde When fundamental rights ensured for every individual in the Constitution is violated, there is provision...

BHOPAL: The sterilization fiasco in Madhya Pradesh refuses to die down. Lamenting the decision of making his wife undergo sterilization two months ago, a 35-year-old man, father of six daughters committed suicide in Betul district on Wednesday. His wife, who went under the scalpel in February, alleged that her husband was promised a plot of land and cash by the panchayat secretary and sarpanch of the village in exchange for the...

-Express News Service Ahmedabad: Flouting rules under Right to Education (RTE) Act, private schools in the city are still following the practice of conducting interviews of children as well as their parents during admissions to entry-level classes. While the majority of private schools have already completed their admissions for the entry-level classes (nursery to kindergarten), a few are still accepting the forms. Though the schools did not admit they were conducted interviews, they...

The Vidarbha region of Maharashtra which has gained notoriety for its farm suicides, is also reporting a high incidence of child deaths. Data compiled under the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows that in Yavatmal district alone 565 children below five died due to various causes between January and September 2011. In addition, the district reported 489 still births for the same period. Yavatmal is second only to Amravati district which...

-BBC Global efforts to cut the number of deaths from measles have fallen short of World Health Organization (WHO) targets. An analysis published in the Lancet said deaths had fallen by 74% between 2000 and 2010, but the target was 90%. Outbreaks in Africa and delays in vaccination programmes in India have stalled progress, researchers say. A new campaign to tackle the disease has been launched, which will combine measles and rubella jabs. In 2000...