Education

[By Mari Marcel Thekaekara] ‘Kickbacks’, in India, generally refer to bribes and corruption. Fairly commonplace. Not really news. So I almost skipped reading the Times of India story about a 16-year old girl, ‘the Kickback kid’ as some reporters have canonised her. The girl, let’s call her Konkona, was returning home alone, a few evenings ago, when she was attacked ...

[By Stephen Woodcock | The Conversation] The American mathematician John Nash, who died in a taxi accident at the weekend, is probably best known to the wider public through Russell Crowe’s portrayal of him in the 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind. His career in academia was glittering – he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994 and only ...

[By Narendra Kaushik] Anoopshahr: “Did you love your daughter today?” postcard-shaped, billboards carved into walls on either side of the gate, bag to know.  “Yes we did,” the answer is written just under the question cordoned off by smileys on both sides. Walk in and you have yellow planks shored up on green-yellow painted lamp posts on your right proclaiming with a smiley ...

Shweta Chari was having dinner with friends in 2004 when she shared an idea to create a place where children could play. Sharing that many children are forced to be labourers at an early age, sometimes in dangerous industries such as firecrackers, the electronics engineer wanted to help them regain their childhood. “Simple toys can make them children again,” says ...

|By John S. Katzman| NEW YORK – Capitalism has produced many high-quality products and services, from smartphones to high-speed transport and compelling entertainment. Yet the profit motive, essential in so many fields, seems to have disappointed in one crucial area: education. The former spend 23% of their revenue on recruiting new students, compared with a mere 1% spent by non-profit institutions. At ...

|By Sanjib Guha| Their achievements did not create much of a flutter a few years ago when siblings Neel (then 13) and Deep (then 11) earned the distinction of being the youngest MBA graduates of the country, a record of sorts. The feat just had few mentions here and there. Having completed their MBA from Indian Management School and Research (IMSR) ...

|By Maria Spiropulu| PASADENA – Almost a century ago, the first galaxy beyond our own was discovered, and within a decade the theory that the universe is expanding was first proposed. Since then, astounding technological developments have contributed to revolutionary progress in physics, astronomy, cosmology, and the life sciences. Today, physics stands at a new threshold. On July 4, 2012, the ...

|By Ángel Gurría| Paris– By assessing the capabilities and knowledge of students in the highest-performing and most rapidly improving education systems, the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) provides valuable options for reform and information on how to achieve it. Some claim that the PISA results are based on too wide a range of factors to be relevant, while others ...

|By Narendra Kaushik| Greater Noida: Bisrakh, is a nondescript village tucked behind under-construction high-rises where driving a vehicle means shifting through clouds formed by dust, grime and sand. But mention Ravana, demon king, scholar, musician, writer of Ravanasamhita, an astrological book, and lead villain of Ramayana, and Bisrakh immediately acquires a larger-than-life profile. Mention the legend and the sleepy place comes ...

|By Narendra Kaushik| New Delhi: After having exhausted his political, judicial, academic and other options for continuance of FYUP (Four Year Undergraduate Programme), Delhi University (DU) Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh threw in the towel on Friday and told University Grants Commission (UGC) that the university would scrap the FYUP, revert to three year programme and begin admissions from the next ...