Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu today wondered why Congress president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi were silent on the mining mafia's activities in Andhra Pradesh, even as they spoke about Vedanta and other projects. "Sonia Gandhi is now talking about the mining mafia in Karnataka, while Rahul says he will fight like a solider for tribals in Orissa. Why don't they do the same in Andhra Pradesh...

KEY TRENDS   • Maternal Mortality Ratio for India was 370 in 2000, 286 in 2005, 210 in 2010, 158 in 2015 and 145 in 2017. Therefore, the MMRatio for the country decreased by almost 61 percent between 2000 and 2017 *14    • As per the NSS 71st round, among rural females aged 5-29 years, the main reasons for dropping out/ discontinuance were: engagement in domestic activities, not interested in education, financial constraints and marriage. Among rural males aged...

Farmers are improving crop yields, using new technologies besides learning video-making skills — thanks to Digital Green which is catalysing a quiet revolution in the little hamlets of India. Delhi-based Digital Green focusses on educating farmers about farming techniques through locally produced videos in which local cultivators are featured. The project works in over 200 villages across Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh with seven NGOs, helping famers improve their...

The must debated Right to Education (RTE) Act has raised several questions with regards to its overall impact on the education system in the country. In order to put the Act in the right perspective so that all the stakeholders — schools, teachers, families, parents, children, and civil society —understand its provisions better, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Karnataka, will jointly start a campaign withfocus...

The Karnataka Unaided Schools Managements' Association (KUSMA) submitted its suggestions on Wednesday for amending the government's Right To Education ( RTE) draft. One suggestion highlighted by KUSMA is responsibility of the school to ensure 'out of school' or 'drop-out' children are given special training to integrate them into class. "Responsibility will burden educational institutions with a social obligation to implement for which they lack necessary resources," the release said. It...