-PTI   It won't stay A.P. High Court order The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh High Court order that quashed 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities in central educational institutions such as the IITs, and ticked off the government for the way it had handled the “complex” and “sensitive” issue. The apex court expressed its “unhappiness” that the Centre was blaming the High Court when it had itself failed...

-The Hindu After a prolonged struggle with low enrolment rates for children in the school-going age, India now has to come to grips with another crucial issue: poor learning outcomes for students in the six to 14 age group. National data on this is not comprehensive, but available empirical evidence points to weak achievements for a significant percentage of students. In rural India, which is more disadvantaged, the highest level of...

Concern for public health goes up in smoke   India's leading cigarette manufacturer, ITC Ltd, made financial contributions of Rs. 6.78 crore in the last two years to all major political parties in the country, causing public health activists here to question the possible interference of tobacco companies “in the Central Government's efforts to bring in tougher anti-tobacco laws in the country.” Figures disclosed by ITC Ltd — and released recently by activists...

-Live Mint It turns out that some state officials were using NRHM to enrich themselves The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched seven years ago with the goal of improving healthcare delivery to people in villages, especially the poor, through a generous infusion of federal funds. Local authorities were given a relatively free hand in deciding how to spend the money, with the Centre promising funds with no strings attached for...

-The Hindu States told to have contingency plans ready, post-delay in onset in Kerala   Agriculture experts and officials are closely monitoring the advance of the southwest monsoon, which is crucial not only for the important summer kharif crop but also the socio-economic wellbeing of the country. There are apprehensions that with farm growth having slowed down in the pre-wheat harvest quarter to 1.7 per cent, if the monsoon were to be deficient, then...