The report presents a mixed picture. Over the past 25 years, there have been notable improvements in child well-being in the group of countries examined in this report: steady decline in child mortality, overall reduction in adolescent suicide and increase in school completion rates. But the last five years have …
amid predictions of severe natural calamities in future, the Tripura government recently constituted disaster management teams at the village panchayat level and introduced disaster management as a subject in schools. Although the Union government's directive for the initiation of a panchayat level disaster preparedness programme dates back to 2002, it …
The Mineral Foundation of Goa aims to: address environmental and social issues concerning the communities in the mining belt of Goa through formulation and implementation of developmental programmes; contribute to economic and social development of the local communities by training and capacity building; to facilitate tripartite partnership amongst industry, government …
Muk Badhir Vidyalaya in Jawhar taluka, Thane district, Maharashtra is quite an unconventional school: the 55 tribal students on its rolls are all hearing-impaired. But ingenious use of alternate energy is what really sets this institution apart from other such schools; biogas plants, that run on seeds of locally available …
Fourteen students sit clustered together in a room in Bangalore engrossed in animated conversation. They come from streams as diverse as history, biology and zoology, and chemical engineering. But now they are pursuing a common interest: wildlife. Their discussion is peppered with wildlife anecdotes, info-bites and interesting details about the …
ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2004 India successfully launched Edusat, so becoming the first country in the world with a satellite exclusively reserved for educational purposes. The first operational flight of the 2000-kg class GSVL rocket
Shankar Sharma, vice-chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC) of Nepal, recently admitted that the country would be unable to achieve the Millennium Development Goals if the Maoist activity was not curbed immediately. This is the first such statement by a senior government official. According to government estimates, nearly two-thirds of …
In a small house in the back alleys of H D Kote, Mysore, Karnataka, schoolteachers are being taken to task. They are presenting quarterly reports on their work to a parents' association, but the occasion is almost festive and not acrimonious. This is not the regular parents-teacher meeting in a …
The Common Minimum Programme of the United Progressive Alliance lets go of the opportunity to present a bold new vision to conserve the environment through sustainable development. GIVEN the excitement generated by the way in which the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power in May, one could be …
Its infertile land, lack of irrigation facilities and feudal social order contribute to make Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh one of India's most backward regions. But over the past eight years, things have started looking up in Jalaun and Mahoba districts of the area. Irrigation facilities have improved, food insecurity is …
Panchayati raj institutions are considered to be an important organ of participatory democracy. The basic idea behind establishing these grassroots-level bodies was to decentralise power and resources from the national and state capital to villages, to ensure people could administer their socio-economic and political life as per local needs. But …
THE UNION minister for human resource development's election-eve decision to slash Indian Institute of Management (IIM) fees by a third has created a storm. The most vocal lot are the faculty and management of the premier schools, and industry captains, who employ their products. The reaction from the minister and …
