Scroll.in Though the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) has refocussed attention on school education in recent years, some fundamental problems continue to plague the system. Despite the constitutional and legal obligations of governments, education budgets have remained modest and woefully inadequate to requirements. While there has been a reasonable expansion of coverage and enrolment in schools, the fundamental issue of poor learning outcomes, especially...

-PTI/ The Hindu Justice Nagarathna dissents from majority judgment, says DeMo of high-value currency notes was ‘vitiated and unlawful’ New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the legality of the Centre’s 2016 decision to ban Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes, saying the decision-making process was neither flawed nor hasty and that it was “not relevant” whether the stated objectives were achieved or not. In a big win for the Narendra...

-The Hindu Business Line The National Food Security Act could adopt standardised criteria to identify beneficiaries across States/UTs India’s development report cards have long been plagued by high incidence of malnutrition, making it an often-cited example of the nation’s growth conundrum. With the country being home to more than one-third of undernourished children, it is evident that the problem underlines the need for a targeted and multi-sectoral approach, with the benefits of...

-The Hindu What is the trigger for the current conflict? Why did the Supreme Court strike down the law on National Judicial Appointments? What is the government’s grouse against the Collegium system? What is the new CJI planning?  The story so far: A major confrontation is on between the Union government and the Supreme Court over the former’s resentment towards the Collegium system of appointments and its push to have a dominant...

-The Telegraph Centre said it had conveyed its stand on the points raised by the two-judge bench to the secretary-general of the apex court in a letter dated July 11, 2017, but had not received any response New Delhi: The Centre has sought to blame the delays in judges’ appointments, for which the Supreme Court has repeatedly reprimanded it, on the collegium itself. The government invoked observations by a two-judge bench in 2017...