-The Hindu   Members of various trade unions in the private and public sectors, affiliated to 11 major central trade unions, will stage a countrywide strike on February 28, 2012 against the ‘anti-labour' policies of the UPA-II government. The Railways will be exempted from the protest. G. Sanjeeva Reddy, president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), affiliated to the Congress, told journalists here on Tuesday that despite various demonstrations by the...

-The Hindu   Rajya Sabha MP and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi chaired the 30-member parliamentary panel that presented its voluminous report earlier this month on the Lokpal Bill 2011. The report has points of divergence with both the official Lokpal Bill draft and the Team Anna version. (The Union Cabinet on Tuesday night approved a Bill for the creation of the Lokpal with constitutional status that will have no control over the...

-India Education Diary   Top-level academics from India and abroad, policy makers and education experts will unfold their experiences and strategies for an effective implementation of the historic Right to Education (RTE) Act and explore and identify critical issues in the education sector at a national conference that gets under way here on Wednesday (Dec. 21). The day-long conference, titled 'Catalysing Education for All: Intention, Innovation, and Implementation', is being organized by...

Foreign direct investment in education has been stuttering in India more than a decade after it was allowed, apparently because education is a not-for-profit sector where surplus revenue has to be ploughed back into expanding the institution. India’s education sector has witnessed significant expansion since the government approved FDI in April 2000, thus providing a huge opportunity for investment. Yet FDI remained zero in the first three years, increased till 2008-09...

-The Telegraph   The Centre has reached an agreement with the BJP to pass a bill on pension reforms in the next “two or three” days, according to a cabinet minister. It has also been working on UPA partner Trinamul Congress, which is opposed to the bill. The BJP agreed after the government gave in on two of its demands related to the legislation, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011. One was...