-The Economic Times India came 72nd of 73 nations in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Competition, despite fielding students from its best states, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The dismal quality of Indian education is confirmed by the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). Throwing money (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) and legislation (Right to Education Act) at education has produced no quality gains at all. Abhiyan spending is up from...
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UID data not reliable: Home Ministry to Cabinet Secretary by Meetu Jain
The row between UIDAI Chairperson Nandan Nilekani and Home Minister P Chidambaram over the Unique Identification (UID) project has intensified. The Home Ministry has written to the Cabinet Secretary, seeking a clear cut direction on who will do the enrollment. CNN-IBN has accessed a copy of the note. In the note, the Home Secretary has stated that the UID data is not reliable as anyone can get themselves registered under any...
More »Rural retail sees fall in demand by Ajay Modi
Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar, India’s biggest rural retail chain by sales, which operates 230 stores across eight states and had seen good growth in the past two years, said it had seen a fall in rural demand in the past two to three months. A drop in prices of potatoes, onions and some other vegetables, leading to low realisation for farmers, and an increase in cost of fertiliser, are reasons for these...
More »Why are India's media under fire? by Soutik Biswas
Has the explosion of media in India been a mixed blessing? With more than 70,000 newspapers and over 500 satellite channels in several languages, Indians are seemingly spoilt for choice and diversity. India is already the biggest newspaper market in the world - over 100 million copies sold each day. Advertising revenues have soared. In the past two decades, the number of channels has grown from one - the dowdy state-owned broadcaster...
More »Food security: Delivering the promise efficiently by Ashok Gulati, Jyoti Gujral & T Nanda Kumar
To banish hunger and malnutrition from the country, Parliament is likely to pass the National Food Security Bill (NFSB). In our earlier article on this issue, Can we Afford Rs 6-Lakh-Cr Food Subsidy Bill in 3 Yrs? (ET, December 17, 2011), we concentrated on the likely financial implication that we estimated at roughly Rs 6,00,000 crore over a period of three years. In this piece, we address the operational challenges...
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