-The Hindu   Success stories from the right to education law give no joy when assessments show that children are ill-versed in the 3Rs and classrooms remain discriminatory Three years ago today, India, for the first time in history, made a promise to its children. With the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education coming into effect on April 1, 2010, every child was guaranteed the fundamental right to eight years of...

-The Hindustan Times Daughter of 1993 blasts convict Zaibunnisa Kazi, Shagufta, is set to pull out all stops to try and prevent her mother from going back to jail. In wake of the hue and cry over support for actor Sanjay Dutt from the crème de la crème of the society, Shagufta entered into the fray arguing that if Dutt could be pardoned, so could her mother, as both had been convicted...

-The Indian Express They are denied entry to temples, given restricted access to water, made to work for a pittance. Now that Orissa's Dalits are asserting themselves against traditions, many are facing ostracism or violent attacks. Debabrata Mohanty reports Until a month before Naveen Patnaik became Orissa's chief minister in March 2000, Dalit labourer Ganapati Naik, now 42, had been living a happy if impoverished life with his bride and parents in...

-Outlook Lucknow: World Bank Group President Jim Young Kim today said the mission of the multilateral institution was to end poverty, and there is no way in achieving this objective for the country without ending it in Uttar Pradesh. "We have called on two fundamental ideas one is end to poverty... In this generation, we think that we can end the poverty," Kim said in a joint press conference with Chief Minister...

-The Hindu If drought is making many in Osmanabad struggle for survival, it is also boosting a 24-hour trade that thrives on scarcity Bharat Raut spends around Rs.800 a month on petrol — just to fetch water that belongs to him. So do a lot of others in Takwiki village in Osmanabad district in Marathwada. Almost every household in Takwiki (and other villages) has one member locked into a single task each...