-The New Indian Express Women in Chinnaparakudy tribal settlement find a source of livelihood, reports  Nejma Sulaiman IDUKKI: Many tribal hamlets in Idukki still follow the primitive practice of secluding menstruating girls and women for up to a week in special huts called ‘valaimapura’. At the Chinnaparakudy settlement in Adimaly panchayat, however, the ‘menstrual hut’ has been converted into a hub of creativity, one that offers a livelihood for women.  Earlier, like in...

-United Nations News With the help of an innovative mobile phone service, UN agencies are working with the Government of Rajasthan, India, to combat child marriage. The poster shows a tiny girl with braided hair, tied at the end with pink ribbons. Her face droops in despair as she walks next to an older man. The garlands around their necks indicate that they have just been wed. She holds a little blackboard in...

-The Wire Science There is reason to celebrate the drop of India’s maternal mortality rate: the decline is consistent and continuous, indicating that the reproductive health of India’s women is getting better. However, a closer look at the state-level MMR data reveals that the all-India three-year average of maternal deaths camouflages the performance of some states. We can predict that the Empowered Action Group states and Assam will have to redouble their...

-The Telegraph A KVS official said the change in the admission criterion for Class I had been implemented to match the NEP guidelines New Delhi: The central government-run Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) has changed the age criterion for admission to Class I from five-plus to six-plus from the coming academic session, raising the prospect of thousands of students missing out on the opportunity of receiving quality and affordable education. The change in policy...

-The Hindu SDMC’s education panel chairperson issues instructions to prevent ‘religious attire’ in schools Officials of South Delhi Municipal Corporation-run schools have been instructed to ensure that no students come to class wearing any “religious attire”. The directions, issued by the civic body’s Education Committee chairperson Nitika Sharma (BJP) to the SDMC’s Director of Primary Education on Friday, have come following a controversy over a girl student being asked to remove her hijab...