One of the most comprehensive survey of learning achievement of class V students by NCERT shows that mean achievement of children of Uttar Pradesh in language and mathematics is highest in the country.  In environmental studies, UP students are a close second after Tamil Nadu (72.30%), with a mean score of 67.15%. In all respects - performance of girls, rural children and percentage of children getting more than 80% - UP...

 The North Dinajpur district administration has started the proceedings to return more than 70 acres of land to its rightful tribal owners in Ramganj. This is the first time that the administration has taken up the initiative to restore illegally occupied tribal land, an official claimed. On January 16, the subdivisional officer of Islampur, Partha Ghosh, wrote to the district project officer-cum-district welfare officer to begin the proceedings for restoration of the...

Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce postpones event after ABVP protests screening of Sanjay Kak’s Kashmir film Close on the heels of the cancellation of author Salman Rushdie’s visit to the 7th Jaipur Literature Festival due to the storm over The Satanic Verses, documentary filmmaker Sanjay Kak had to bear the brunt of Hindu fundamentalists. “Voices of Kashmir”, a seminar at the Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Pune, stands indefinitely postponed...

-The Telegraph The Planning Commission has set up a committee to suggest an increase in corporate funding for higher education and research. Such funding, mostly seen in developed countries, has remained low in India. The government has so far been the main source of funds for the sector but it is now finding it difficult given the scale of expansion required. The committee, headed by N.R. Narayanamurthy, will develop a framework for engagement...

A government panel has suggested the Centre revise its “no intervention” policy on the Jarawas of the Andamans and try to “empower” them rather than let them continue to be what an academic has described as “showpiece hunter-gatherers”. The panel wants the government to see if it can provide food and medical help —and possibly some education and housing — to these tribals inside the Jarawa Reserve without disrupting their lifestyle. It...