Two years after the ambitious Right of Children to Free and Compulsory education Act, 2009 came into being, 95.2 per cent of schools are not yet compliant with the complete set of RTE infrastructure indicators, a civil society survey nationwide shows. And a shockingly high percentage, 93, of teacher candidates failed in the National Teacher Eligibility Test conducted by the Central Board of Secondary education in 2010-11. In 2009-10, the failure...

Which is more important in human life: money or happiness? Can money buy happiness? According to the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan, the time has come for the world to pay closer attention to this age-old question. "We are starting a global movement on this issue," Jigme Thinley, the prime minister of Bhutan, told IPS after a high-level meeting on "Happiness and Well-being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm" held at United...

With the Nitish-led NDA government firmly in the saddle in the state, with not even an iota of political instability, world powers have started taking keen interest in Bihar's progress and exploring opportunities for possible investment. In the past less than 12 hours, highly-placed representatives of the US and the UK called on the chief minister and praised him for the positive developments in the state. US undersecretary of state for political...

Students graduating in law may have to do a stint of compulsory practical training in courts, like the internship that medical graduates have to undergo. Law teachers this newspaper spoke to agreed that such a period of apprenticeship would help new law graduates but argued that it should be kept optional. The original proposal to make legal internship a compulsory part of the five-year LLB course had come from the Chief Justice...

Ranchi, April 3: Newbie eighth grader Radha Kumari at Government Middle School in Ranchi’s Tharpakhna is happy over her promotion, but says it does not feel like she is in a new class. “No new textbooks,” she frowns. Radha is not alone. In fact, 60 lakh students between classes I and VIII studying in 40,000-odd state-run primary and middle schools are in a similar quandary. They have not received their new,...