-The Hindu The fees make up for almost 20% of their total cost of education, says NSO report on education One in five students in India supplements school education with private coaching, including almost one in three at the secondary school level or Classes 9 and 10. Private coaching fees make up almost 20% of the total cost of education for those in secondary and higher secondary school. In some States, such as...

-The Hindu Evidence of significant disparity in access to online schooling during COVID-19 Schools across the country have now been closed for six months due to COVID-19, but this means vastly different things for different people. For the child in urban Himachal Pradesh, where Internet penetration is higher than 70%, it likely means online schooling, Zoom classes and digital textbooks. For the child in rural Odisha, where less than 6% of households...

-Livemint.com Trade moving outside regulated markets could lead to speculation and volatile prices, warn experts NEW DELHI: After the Centre enacted a new set of laws freeing internal trade in farm produce, crop arrivals in regulated wholesale markets have witnessed a sharp decline. However, off-market transactions between farmers and traders which are going unrecorded could be fueling food inflation as traders engage in speculation and hoarding, experts said. An analysis of numbers from...

-Hindustan Times Don’t bank on V-shaped recovery. The Centre must discard dogmas, enhance investment News of a contraction of almost 24% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of this year would have come as a shock to every responsible citizen. The degree of contraction exceeds that in any major world economy. This is not surprising as India combined the world’s most stringent lockdown with the weakest economic stimulus. For...

-PTI/ The Hindu Business Line Time for bureaucracy to take meaningful action, says former RBI governor Terming the 23.9 per cent fall in economic growth in June quarter alarming, former Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has said bureaucracy should come out of complacency and take meaningful action. The current crisis requires a more thoughtful and active government, he said, adding unfortunately, after an initial burst of activity, it seems to have retreated...