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On February 10 this year, the technical education department of Rajasthan government came out with a landmark decision. Nobody who has cleared any semester/year of B.Tech or M.Tech in more than one attempts will be eligible for teaching positions at any degree-level government technical institution in the state. With this order, Rajasthan has become the only state with a clear cut policy aimed at improving the quality of teaching by taking into account the number of attempts made by candidates during their student years.

India spends almost 2.5 per cent of its GDP on elementary education. This includes 0.71 per cent of private expenditure. Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the flagship government programme on elementary education, got 67 per cent of the total elementary education budget in 2015-16 at Rs 22,000 crore. High expenditure on elementary education per student leads to better learning outcomes but this expenditure is highly inefficient and needs accountability. On the other hand, private expenditure on educaion is rusing even in rural areas where many children are taking private tuitions.

Unqualified teachers, low salaries, no free education for poor students and lack of infrastructure mar the implementation of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act in India. Punjab is no different in this respect. A study points out deficiencies in the current system and little effort being made to rectify them. Though private schools of the state have good infrastructure, these lack commitment to poor students and teachers, who remain under-serviced and underpaid respectively

Working as a domestic help, Sunita spends all her day mopping floors and washing utensils at people's houses in Dwarka subcity of Delhi. Meanwhile, her 10-year-old daughter takes care of the home and the two younger siblings, boys aged 5 and 2. Sunita does not feel like sending the children to school as she says nobody in her neighbourhood does so. The girl will soon start working as domestic help while the boys will be

Though dust is of trivial significance to us, it kills millions of workers in Indian industries and mines. Silicosis, one of the many lung disorders caused by dust, is not only untreatable but also the commonest and most widespread of all occupational diseases. Exposure to large amount of free silica can pass unnoticed since it is odourless, non-irritant and hence is confused with ordinary dust. The problem is more severe in unorganised industries like slate pencil cutting, stone cutting and agate industry since these are not covered by any legislation.

Thanks to our fast still sedentary lifestyle, there are more medicines than fruits in our baskets and hence a big share of monthly budget is spent on buying them. According to a study published in international journal Lancet, despite living in a welfare state, 78 per cent of the health expenditure is met by Indians from their own pockets. Also 72 per cent of this total expenditure is spent on purchasing drugs. If you think that’s high be prepared for much higher medical bills in near future. The free trade agreement (FTA)

Author Chetan Bhagat stirred a debate by questioning the worth of historians' work. But much before his utterances, historians in India have been accused of pandering to leftist ideology at the cost of facts. We talk to Prof Rajiv Lochan of History department, Panjab University, on how politics affects history, what role Internet is playing in this debate and how the discipline can be rescued from bias through scientific collection and presentation of evidence.

Sonu does not look a day older than 12 years but on being asked, he instantly putters out his age as 16. You realise that he has been tutored to add the false years. Sonu is happy working at the dhaba which serves tea and food to nearby corporate offices at Jhandewala in New Delhi. The dhaba owner provides free food while most of the money he makes is sent back to his parents in Uttar Pradesh. The boy does not even feel like he is missing out on anything. “I am able to earn and contribute to the household.