The message is clear. India needs not merely more children entering classrooms, but more children staying, completing and learning. Achieving the ambitions of NEP 2020 and SDG 4 will require sustained public investment, stronger secondary-school retention, better support for vulnerable learners and a sharper focus on completion.
The virtues like civic discipline or gender sensitivity in India are not at premium. Basic civic sense is conspicuous by its absence. It gets manifested as indiscriminate littering, spitting, traffic indiscipline, vulgar or derogatory comments against women etc. Such attitudes find manifestation in foreign destinations as well.
Ties between India and East and Southeast Asia are bound to strengthen, given the growing synergies in strategic areas such as defence, critical technology and higher education. It is important for Indian students, professionals, and skilled workers to harness educational and work opportunities in that region that is open to receiving Indian students and techies. This is especially important given that countries in the Anglosphere, not just the US but also Canada and to an extent Australia, are adopting increasingly insular immigration policies and tightening student and work visa regulations.
Across Kashmir, the image of crowded reading rooms alongside empty classrooms should compel us to reflect on the direction our education system is taking. Reading rooms may help students prepare for examinations, but schools and colleges prepare them for life.
The two intense tank battles of the 1965 Indo-Pak war, matching those in World War II, fought at Phillora (Punjab, Pakistan) by Hodson’s Horse (4 Horse) and Poona Horse (17 Horse), and at Asal Uttar (Punjab, India) fought by 3 Cavalry, 8 Cavalry, Deccan Horse (9 Horse) and Scinde Horse (14 Horse debilitated Pakistan’s armour and depressed it men’s morale
Time to go, Adios, Goodbye
Given that India has set the goal of vaccinating 30 crore/300 million people with COVID-19 jabs by July, can the country procure enough doses to fulfil that goal? To vaccinate 30 crore/300 million people, the country will need 60 crore/ 600 million doses as the two vaccines that are leading the race to get the approval from the government requires two-doses per person for protection
It is reported that in a normal year, around 55 million people die in the world. It is now reported that in the year 2020 around 1.8 million people have died in the world due to COVID 19 alone
Things not always cast in iron
The mysterious death of exiled Baloch activist Karima Baloch, believed to be a case of murder by many, has not only triggered a week of protests from Toronto to Dhaka but also fueled the Baloch freedom movement at ground zero
Devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic since early this year, the robust Indian media fraternity is set to bid farewell to 2020 with a heavy heart as many lost their lives due to COVID or were targeted and killed
A footballer-turned-militant from Sopore, in Jammu and Kashmir regretted joining terrorist ranks, according to his last conversation which went viral before he was killed by the Indian security forces in a gunfight last week
My body is bare from wear and tear
What can I say, I’m no sage
I often get lost in the sands of time
As we enter the holiday season and approach the new year, I want to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt best wishes to and for India and Indians
May there be no doubts, no fears, ahead
As one grows older one remembers nostalgically the era gone by
Like Someone Else
