IndiaEducationDiary.in   With a number of States facing constraints in implementing the historic Right to Education (RTE) Act, various stakeholders, including academics, policy makers and education experts, will share a podium here on December 21 to deliberate on innovative policy ideas aimed at universalizing quality education for all children. The experts, coming together at a national conference, will also discuss in detail the critical issues plaguing the Indian education sector, especially for children...

A report of the National People's Tribunal on the 2008 riots in Kandhamal, Orissa, is out. The report that runs into 197 pages points out that the brutality of the violence falls within the definition of 'torture' under international law, particularly the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.   According to the tribunal, headed by Justice A P Shah, communal forces used religious conversions as an issue for political mobilisation...

Health care in India, at its finest, matches the standards of international best practice. The knowledge, skill and confidence of its doctors and nurses, the sophistication of available technology, quality of service and five-star hospitality compete with the best in the world. Its relatively low cost has made it an important player in the health tourism sector. However, at the other extreme, publicly funded health care services often do not...

China, India, Brazil say a pact must recognize the historical responsibility of nations that caused the problem to act first United Nations (UN) secretary general Ban Ki-moon said a global warming treaty may be ”beyond our reach” this week as India and China rejected pressure for developing nations to adopt mandatory pollution targets. “We must be realistic about the opportunity of a breakthrough in Durban,”” Ban said at UN climate talks...

Chanting loudly, thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets to the venue of the 17th United Nations Climate Change Conference to demand that their voices be heard for "immediate and drastic" carbon emission reductions to save the planet. Dubbing Saturday the "Global Day of Action", demonstrators from international and national non- governmental groups as well as labour, women, youth, academic, religious and environmental organisations came together to highlight civil society’s demands...