
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it was concerned with the quality of the primary teacher and warned against a populist approach on appointments that could endanger India's future.
"It is too serious a matter for us. We are concerned with the future of the country," said the apex court bench of Justice BS Chauhan and Justice Dipak Misra while hearing a petition by the Gujarat government on the appointment of Shiksha Sahayak (education assistants).
"A populist approach can't be allowed to destroy the fabric of the education," Justice Misra observed as court asked the state government to furnish the comparative statement giving the qualification, eligibility criterion and other requirements for the appointment as Vidya Sahayak and the primary teachers
"We want to understand the concept of education and what kind of quality (education) that is being given to them (primary school students)," the court said as senior counsel UU Lalit, appearing for the state government, sought to address some e queries raised by the court....
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05:15 AM, May 23, 2013

New Delhi: Detailing economic growth during the UPA regime, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday the slowdown in 2012 was "temporary" and a longer term view would show that India has notched up an average "8 per cent growth" in the past nine years. The prime minister, presenting the ruling United Progressive Alliance-II's report card, said the economic situation was "turning around" and economic growth rate in 2013-14 could...

02:44 AM, May 23, 2013

New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday appealed to the opposition to cooperate with the government in passing the key food security and land acquisition bills in the interests of the people, while expressing her disappointment that parliament was not allowed to run to enable the passage of the bills. "I make a plea to the NDA and other opposition parties...let us come together to ensure passage of the...

02:23 AM, May 23, 2013

New Delhi: In a bid to bolster infrastructure growth, investment in road construction in rural areas saw a ten-fold jump under the UPA regime, according to the report card unveiled by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the fourth anniversary of UPA-II. The government rolled out more than 20,100 all-weather roads across the nation in 2012, the report said projecting a rosy picture of sector, battling...

01:45 AM, May 23, 2013

New Delhi: Amidst allegations of corruption in allocation of telecom spectrum and coal mines, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday promised to punish wrongdoers and said future allotment of scarce natural resources will happen only through auction. UPA II government has faced plethora of corruption charges in allocation of 2G spectrum when A Raja was the Telecom Minister and in allocation of coal blocks when Singh himself held the charge...

01:23 AM, May 23, 2013

New Delhi: The UPA government listed ushering the process of digitisation of the cable sector as one of its leading achievements in its report card that was presented to the people on Wednesday. The government said it had implemented digitisation in the Phase I cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata along with 38 cities which come under the second phase. It said that by choosing digital cable, the country would...

01:04 AM, May 23, 2013

New Delhi: The Sahara Group on Wednesday accused the BCCI of "betrayal of trust" while rejecting claims of the Board that the IPL team was to be blamed for the controversy surrounding the franchise fee, leading to Pune Warriors pulling out of the Twenty20 tournament. A day after Sahara Group pulled out its team Pune Warriors from IPL, citing BCCI's decision to encash its bank guarantee following a prolonged financial...

11:55 PM, May 22, 2013

Catch the day's top stories with Rajdeep Sardesai on India @ 9. ...

11:54 PM, May 22, 2013

IPL commissioner Rajeev Shukla said that all guilty will be punished whether they are administrators or players. ...

11:45 PM, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: Free press and active civil society put pressure on the government for early and decisive action in addressing weaknesses in governance and sometimes it leads to "hasty judgement", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday night. "We are the world's largest democracy with a very free Press and an increasingly active civil society movement. These are our strengths," Singh said. "But they do put pressure for early and...

11:24 PM, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed the UPA's report card as a "non-report card" that hid all the scams and revealed only what was convenient to the ruling dispensation. The Opposition party also lashed out at the UPA for "blaming it for its own failures". "The UPA's report card is a non report card. It hides all the scams and reveals only the convenient. More importantly, Congress is...

11:17 PM, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was the cynosure of all eyes at the UPA anniversary function in 2012, was conspicuous by his absence on Wednesday. Instead, the pride of place was taken by Bahujan Samaj Party's Satish Chandra Mishra and Brajesh Pathak who did not attend the presentation of the 'Report to the People' but came in time for dinner. No leader or MP from Samajwadi...

10:32 PM, May 22, 2013

The Opposition launched a scathing attack on the government which completed its nine years in power on Wednesday. ...

10:29 PM, May 22, 2013

As UPA-II presents its 'Report to the People', Bhupendra Chaubey asks a team of experts what is the road ahead for the government. ...

09:41 PM, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: Seeking to dispel the perception of gloom amidst scams and controversies, the UPA on Wednesday painted a rosy picture of its government's performance during the last nine years. In the 'Report to the People', released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the fourth anniversary of the UPA-II, the government maintained that allegations of impropriety were being investigated and that the guilty would be...

09:23 PM, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: The BCCI on Wednesday rejected Sahara Group's claim that it had failed to expedite the arbitration process to reduce franchisee fee, saying that it has acted as per the rules and was not responsible for the situation. A day after Sahara Group pulled out of the IPL, citing BCCI's decision to encash its bank guarantee following a prolonged financial dispute, the BCCI came out with its version saying...

07:10 PM, May 22, 2013

The UPA-II government has just completed four years in power. So, what have been its achievements and failures? CNN-IBN's national affairs editor Bhupendra Chaubey joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. Q. In urban areas, it seems like UPA-2 will definitely suffer in the forthcoming elections, whats the scene in the rural India... how is the performance seen there. Different or same like how urban India sees it...

06:37 PM, May 22, 2013

What are the key points on which the UPA-II dispensation failed to deliver? BJP's spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. Q. Hi Sidharth, Do you think that the BJP has oversold the corruption issue and leadership issue of the UPA..At one time it probably had a impact on people but now all your leaders and spokespersons sound very repetitive, at times arrogant and...

05:56 PM, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has claimed that it has not received any intimation from Sahara India, owners of IPL franchise Pune Warriors India, about its decision to withdraw from the IPL and discontinue its sponsorship of the Indian cricket team at the end it its existing agreement in December 2013. A media release from BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale on Wednesday said: "The BCCI has read in media...

05:55 PM, May 22, 2013

London: Robert Pattinson was left angry and upset after reportedly discovering texts from married director Rupert Saunders on Kristen Stewart's phone the morning of his 27th birthday. The 'Water For Elephants' actor was looking at his on-off girlfriend's phone when he saw the messages from the director, who the 23-year-old actress had an affair with when the pair shot 'Snow White and the Huntsman'. Pattinson decided to leave right away,...

05:15 PM, May 22, 2013