-The Indian Express Union Minister of State for HRD Jitin Prasada on Wednesday said that the 12th Five-Year Plan would focus on quality in education. He was speaking at a function after releasing the India Infrastructure Report - 2012 at Modern School, Barakhamba Road, here. The minister stated that though the government is "thankful" to the private sector for their efforts in higher education, private institutes have become "money minting institutions" and should...

-The Hindu In his article in The Hindu (editorial page, “Making a mockery of domestic gas pricing,” January 18, 2013, Surya P. Sethi attacks the gas pricing formula proposed by the Rangarajan Committee, curiously enough, for being based on numbers from foreign markets that do not reflect the supply, demand or cost of production in India. I say “curiously” because on the exact opposite side, domestic producers are also pillorying the committee’s...

-DailyBhaskar.com Kishanganj (Bihar): The plight of Dalits in India came to fore again on Tuesday after it was discovered that ‘higher castes’ in village of Kishanganj district including the panchayat head himself had issued a diktat ordering Dalits not to use village water. Bihar Police lodged a complaint on Tuesday against fifteen persons for causing mental torture to Dalits. The social boycott of Dalits was effected after one of them complained that money...

-The Hindu The case of the juvenile offender in the Delhi gang rape is a wake-up call for investing more in a protection scheme that will stop children from turning to crime During the 11 years I worked with the emergency helpline service Childline, I have had the opportunity to befriend many children who live on the edge of society. Among them was 11-year-old Arif, who lived with a gang of boys...

-AFP Child victims of sex assaults in India often find themselves humiliated by the police and mistreated by doctors when they pluck up the courage to report abuse, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. In a report released amid continuing anger at the handling of sex cases in the wake of a deadly gang rape in Delhi, the rights watchdog said the authorities had to become more sensitive towards victims. "Children who bravely complain...