-The Hindu Rural women sew their way to empowerment, thanks to the Silai Schools. Saroj Namdev, 36, of Satlapur village, Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, is a housewife and mother of three. She struggled to provide her children food and education on her husband's small income. Then he lost his job and the family was reduced to penury. This pushed her out of her cocooned existence to become an entrepreneur. Saroj,...

-The Hindu Aim of the exercise is to map damage due to closure of 17,000 govt. schools. Eight months after the BJP government closed down 17,000 government schools in Rajasthan, dramatically pushing up the dropout rate largely among marginal communities, the Congress has decided to undertake a survey, starting in Jaipur's Amber block, to map the damage. Once the audit is over, a campaign to force the State government to reopen the closed...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The Centre has told the Supreme Court that though the country has become self sufficient in production of cereals, it is dependent on imports to bridge the gap between domestic production and demand of edible oil and pulses. Responding to a PIL on increasing farmer suicides in the country, the Ministry of Agriculture said in an affidavit, "India has not only ensured self-sufficiency in most of the agricultural crops...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today used his monthly radio broadcast to reach out to farmers and defend the controversial land acquisition bill, asking them not to be misled by the Opposition's "lies". He denied that his government's intended amendments to the UPA-steered 2013 land law favoured corporate houses and would deprive farmers even of the right to move court against a takeover of their land. Modi's speech launched the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre today began consulting the states on a new education policy that will review a range of practices, including the automatic promotions till Class VIII and the option of skipping one's Class X board exams under the Central Board of Secondary Education. Smriti Irani's human resource development ministry made a presentation flagging 33 key issues, which include the need for examination reforms to focus on problem-solving, critical...