-The Hindu Pune: An impotent anxiety grips Indira Gaikwad as she hobbles on her crutches in her matchbox house in the mean tenements in the city's Rasta Peth area. A former State-level disabled sports champion, Indira, at 43, is fast approaching the deadline (of 45 years) for differently abled sportspersons aspiring to a government job. Crushed by the financial burdens of looking after her 75-year-old ailing mother, the post-dated promises of goodwill...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Teacher's Day was never so big, ever since it was designated as such, back in 1962. That's because of the planned address of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to thousands of school children. But, what about the teachers who will gather their flock for the big day? Nearly 43% of school teachers in India are now working under privately managed schools. That's about 4.2 million teachers, of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: About half of all Indian students were perceived by teachers as lacking the skills required for the class or grade they were entering, despite the same teachers also believing that the learning environment had improved over the last decade. This was revealed in a survey of over 5,000 teachers from schools and institutions of higher education from over 200 cities across the country. The teachers identified...

-The New York Times AGIRIPALLI: In this belt of villages near the fertile Krishna River delta, much is as it has been for generations: The cotton soil is as black, the mango trees as heavy with fruit, the tobacco fields as fragrant and deeply green as ever. But there have been curious changes in recent months. An old temple has received an expensive renovation, complete with a new banquet hall, courtesy of...

-Outlook Admission attained, it's not easy progress for EWS children Every day, at 7:15 am, Prachi's mother walks the six-year-old to her school in Pune, walking cautiously past the corner of the road, to avoid the giant SUVs and sedans zipping past after dropping the wards at the fortress-like school complex. Prachi enters the school with a few other children from her neighbourhood, a colony of waste-pickers. Prachi's mother is one...