-Livemint.com Loathed and mistrusted as they might be, lawyers from all backgrounds—economic, ethnic or otherwise—are needed to make for a vibrant society The lack of diversity in the legal profession, as evidenced by the inequality in the appointments of senior counsel at the Supreme Court and high courts, is a serious issue at the top level, but it actually starts at the very bottom, according to research surveying students who entered...

-PTI With barely three weeks left for Independence Day celebrations, Parliament was informed last week that 2.86 lakh toilets have been constructed so far Government seems to be racing against time to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of ensuring toilets in all schools across the country in a year as about 1.94 lakh toilets are yet to be made operational as against the target of 4.19 lakh toilets. Modi had in his...

-The Hindu Hyderabad: Religious dogmas and untouchability find way even into the food served to schoolchildren as part of the mid-day meal scheme, as reported by a study in Telangana. While a few news reports have already appeared about parents objecting to meals cooked by Scheduled Caste women, the study led by the Caring Citizens’ Collective (CCC) vouches that many more similar cases are hushed up by teachers. The CCC is an...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has nudged schools and colleges to appoint student gender monitors who will report any incident of gender bias or sexual harassment on the campus to designated teachers. Although the government has dubbed the measure an "outreach for creating an environment that fosters equal treatment", social activists said a sensitisation programme would have worked better than a system that will only create snitches. According to government guidelines issued...

-The Hindu Business Line Digital dreams are cheaper than a pot of drinking water in Tila Shahbazpur, near Delhi A Wi-Fi-enabled village with no potable water! Yes, this is Tila Shahbazpur, which was in the news a few months ago as the first village in Uttar Pradesh to get Wi-Fi connectivity. “While [Delhi Chief Minister Arvind] Kejriwal is yet to fulfil his promise, we have done it in no time,” boasted Samajwadi Party...