A survey conducted across nine states by the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Allahabad University suggests that the much maligned system has revived, prodded by politics, good governance and the apex court. It also found the poor to be averse to cash transfers Kotri is a mid-sized village in Desuri block (Pali district, Rajasthan), about 15 kilometres away from the nearest large bus stand and market place. We walked to...

While Indian psychiatrists have rejected a World Health Organisation (WHO) study portraying India as the depression capital of the world, they say it has indirectly drawn attention to an acute shortage of trained personnel and facilities to deal with mental illness. "Declaring India as having the highest rate of major depression in the world is an aberration in interpretation," Dr. Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, secretary-general of the World Association of Social Psychiatry,...

-The Indian Express   Admitting that the child mapping survey conducted by its officials in December 2010 had left out many city areas while identifying eligible candidates for free education under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, UT Education Department has now roped in a research agency to rectify flaws in the data. The department has already handed over the data from its survey to the Centre for Research in Rural and...

Monitoring of the continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) scheme in schools for std I to VIII will begin from October 1, across the state. Surprise tests and visits have been planned in order to check if the scheme is being effectively implemented in school as per the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 by teachers. The Maharashtra State Council Education Research and Training (MSCERT), the monitoring agency...

-The United Nations   World food prices remained virtually unchanged during the month of August, with only slight increases observed in the prices of cereals and meat, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today. FAO’s monthly Food Price Index averaged 231 points in August compared to 232 points in July, the Rome-based agency stated in a news release. It was 26 per cent higher than in August 2010 but seven points...