Two years after the ambitious Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 came into being, 95.2 per cent of schools are not yet compliant with the complete set of RTE infrastructure indicators, a civil society survey nationwide shows. And a shockingly high percentage, 93, of teacher candidates failed in the National Teacher Eligibility Test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education in 2010-11. In 2009-10, the failure...

The housing and houselisting census data do not paint a rosy picture of India in terms of basic amenities for its households. The data on household amenities and assets, released recently by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, are a stark reminder of the immense disparities that exist in India in terms of basic entitlements such as electricity, sanitation facilities, proper drainage, and clean drinking and...

-The Times of India As political parties learn to set up central war-rooms in their headquarters during elections to civic bodies, state assemblies or the Lok Sabha, they are increasingly depending on private detective agencies to collect and collate data in order to gauge people's mood, select prospective candidates and know rival strategies. Sniffing a business opportunity, private players have come up with specialised services of providing ground report to political leaders....

 Madhya Pradesh cancelled licences of seven 'gutkha' companies and banned its manufacture and sale in the state from April 1. MP is the first state in the country to ban tobacco, magnesium carbonate and nicotine-based 'gutkha' following provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulation 2011.  Health minister and government spokesman Narottam Mishra said gutkha manufacturing licences in the state will not be renewed. "Gutkha makers...

-DNA   Having provided forest land rights to just one in five tribals, Gujarat ranks a poor 12th in issuing forest land rights to the tribal population. As against 1,91,592 claims received for seeking forest land rights, the government distributed title deeds among 39,784 applicants, i.e. 20.76% of the claimants. This was after The Forest Rights Act 2006 was enacted and its rules framed in the year 2007. Of the total claims received by...