-The Hindu 'They quit because they are not learning anything in school' With eight million children never having stepped inside a school and 80 million dropping out without completing basic schooling, the United Nations Children's Fund has described the situation as a national emergency and called for equipping the government and civil society to implement the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. "There has been progress in implementation of...

-The Times of India   CHITALIYA (RAJKOT): In the villages of Jasdan taluka in drought-hit Saurashtra, dalit women prefer to remain silent. That's for the fear of the upper castes in a state whose chief minister Narendra Modi is busy trying to conjure up an eclectic image to subserve his perceived prime ministerial ambitions for 2014 polls. "Those people (upper castes) will abuse us again if we speak," mumbled one of the women,...

-The Times of India Recognizing that the plethora of dams built and planned in the Ganga basin could almost empty the river of its Waters in the winter season, an inter-ministerial group has recommended that the projects be re-engineered to maintain 30-50% of Water flow in the lean period of December-March. The group headed by Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi also recommended that electricity production in the existing and upcoming dams...

-The Business Standard A CACP study shows how the Fisc, rising farm wages and international forces are stoking inflation It's good to see that independent thought is still present in the government. When one part of the government comes out with a serious and objective piece on how the government itself has been responsible for creating food inflation, hopefully the government is more likely to take note. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and...

-The Hindu     The shortened lifespan of the quarry workers of Uttar Pradesh is spent breaking stones and residing among the pollution- laden boulders Mired with sandy roads and rocky terrain, the landscape in south-western Allahabad creates a remarkable mirage under the blue sky. Some of the larger rocks here have sizeable craters formed in them -- a sign of their depletion over time, by an activity that is hazardous yet critical to the...