-The Times of India Mitu Kumari, in charge of a government school in Patahin, a village on the outskirts of Muzaffarpur, Bihar, has a measured enthusiasm for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement that toilets for girls will be built in schools that still don't have this basic facility. For her 146 students and three women teachers, absence of toilets is an intolerable problem. "I have written to everybody, from the village mukhia...

-Down to Earth Going by current trends, the target for reducing infant mortality and improving other human development indices seem near impossible to achieve Less that 500 days are left for nations to achieve the targets set under the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); there are eight such goals which range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education. The countdown for the deadline...

-The Hindu Business Line While the limitations of the concept of economic growth are acknowledged, we need a better index than HDI Despite claims that economic development as a branch of economic science emerged only in the 1950s, there is no doubt that the notion of development existed even in classical economic thought processes, emerging from the writings of Adam Smith and David Ricardo. The recognition of development economics as a discipline...

-The Pioneer Korba/ Raipur (Chhattisgarh): The initiative, such as free distribution of textbooks, uniform, scholarship and Midday meal, taken by Chhattisgarh Government to promote education has enlivened hope of a better future, not only among the children but in their poor parents also who are working hard to make both ends meet. When the students of primary school run in the slums of the city were told by their teachers that they...

-The Guardian Scares over lizard and worms in food highlight flaws in flagship programme as India struggles to reach most remote schools Karulihai (Madhya Pradesh): The dirt roads leading to the village of Karulihai in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh make for a bumpy ride. As clouds of dust settle on the windscreen, it's easy to miss the one-room school that stands in the middle of the field. Voices of children,...