With nearly 800 million people unable to read or write, the United Nations today marked International Literacy Day with a warning that illiteracy undermines efforts to eliminate a host of social ills such as poverty and sickness and threatens the very stability of nations. “The costs are enormous,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message. “Illiteracy exacerbates cycles of poverty, ill-health and deprivation. It weakens communities and undermines democratic processes through...

You have the right to: Organize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment. Form, join or assist a union. Bargain collectively through representatives of employees' own choosing for a contract with your employer setting your wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions. Discuss your terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with your co-workers or a union. Take action with...

Private Schools may no longer be able to refuse to provide information under the RTI Act under the pretext of being a 'private authority'. The Central Information Commission (CIC), in a recent hearing against a private School, ruled that the School, which receives substantial funds from the government and was controlled by different agencies under the Delhi administration, including the DDA and the Directorate of Education, comes under the ambit...

-The Hindu   A committee comprising representatives of people from different walks of life has been constituted for ensuring the entry of Dalits into the caste Hindu areas in Perali village near here. Members of the committee ensured that the Dalits were permitted to ride their bicycles on the streets dominated by caste Hindus in the village. On Tuesday, a group of Dalits along with their wards rode their bicycles. The committee was constituted...

The flawed Bill on food security has not received the kind of publicity that the Lokpal Bill has, but that does not diminish its significance. “THIS government has divided everything and everyone. There are different cards for different sections of the poor. If my employer, taking pity on me, gives me an old television, I am not entitled to a yellow card [Below Poverty Line card]. My son who is...