Street children collecting garbage scattered on roads near Sunderpur-Bazardiha area. The Schoolchildren in the area celebrating Saraswati Puja on Tuesday. The two pictures in contrast reveal the sorry state of affairs when it comes to education for the underprivileged kids. The provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, which came into force on April 1, 2010, call for free and compulsory education to children between 6 to 14 years...

IN A small village north-west of Bangalore, peasants queue for identities. Each man fills in a form with his name and rough date of birth, or gets someone who can read to do it for him. He places his fingertips on one scanner and stares at another. A photograph of his face is snapped. These images are uploaded to a computer. Within a few weeks he will have an identity...

Nitish calls for balanced view on proposed plant in Chainpur Agitators allege misinformation on perceived hazardous fallouts of proposed plant “17.8 acres of land acquired to set up the factory is cultivable, fertile” Taking note of the mounting public uproar against the proposed asbestos factory at Bishnupur-Chainpur village in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said “there was no ban on setting up asbestos factories in India.” Mr. Kumar, however, said...

It pays to keep away from private-public partnerships, especially if you plan to ‘only’ create awareness on a topic that complements the business you are in. Last week, foods giant Nestle was probably chewing hard on this thought. The company found itself in an uneasy position in India, when  it received unfavourable media coverage for a nutrition-awareness programme that Nestle India had launched in Schools in association with universities such...

Citing various irregularities in the implementation of Food for Work Scheme under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today strongly advocated cash subsidy as a better option. ''If people are to be helped through cash, it would avoid diversion of the commodity or any other product meant for them,'' Mr Kumar said in an informal interaction with Members of the Indian Women's Press Corps...