AK Srivastava (SriAKS)

. CHENNAI: Nearly 65% of class V students in rural areas of Tamil Nadu can’t read even a class II textbook in their mother tongue, 45% don’t know subtraction and nearly 81% can’t read simple English sentences, the Annual Status of Education Report for 2009, compiled by Delhi-based NGO Pratham Foundation, has revealed. The findings of the survey, which had a sample size of 33,000 students in both private and government schools, showed that while 19.4% of class V students could read words and 7.2% could only identify letters, 3.7% could read nothing. Only During the survey, the children were first asked to read a short story, failing which they were asked to read out a couple of lines. If a child was unable to read the words, he or she was then asked to identify the letters. Vasanthi Devi, convenor of the KALVI Alliance for Education and co-ordinator for the survey, said, “While the state has been able to do a good job in getting children into schools and in making efforts to introd

. Passport office doesn’t accept passport as ID proof ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If this post makes you feel you are looking at a letter to the Editor by an irate citizen, exasperated with the red tape and stupidity of government offices involved in public dealings, please don’t be surprised. For, that is the intention.  The post deals with the experience of an individual who went for the renewal of his son’s passport who is yet to turn 12. The passport was still valid for another three months.  Armed with filled-up forms and annexure and affidavits and photographs, and all that he thought would suffice that included the child’s passport, and his and his wife’s passport (and their copies), he approached the Regional Passport Office in Delhi.   Just a bit of digression from the subject here, if you want to see government’s public dealing at its worst, you must visit the passport office anywhere in the country, and if you set your sights higher and want to

. CHENNAI: Nearly 65% of class V students in rural areas of Tamil Nadu can’t read even a class II textbook in their mother tongue, 45% don’t know subtraction and nearly 81% can’t read simple English sentences, the Annual Status of Education Report for 2009, compiled by Delhi-based NGO Pratham Foundation, has revealed. The findings of the survey, which had a sample size of 33,000 students in both private and government schools, showed that while 19.4% of class V students could read words and 7.2% could only identify letters, 3.7% could read nothing. Only During the survey, the children were first asked to read a short story, failing which they were asked to read out a couple of lines. If a child was unable to read the words, he or she was then asked to identify the letters. Vasanthi Devi, convenor of the KALVI Alliance for Education and co-ordinator for the survey, said, “While the state has been able to do a good job in getting children into schools and in making efforts to introduc

. Adolf Hitler Commits Suicide   On 30 April 1945, holed up in a bunker under his headquarters in Berlin, Adolf Hitler commits suicide by swallowing a cyanide capsule and shooting himself in the head. Soon after, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending Hitler's dreams of a "1,000-year" Reich.   Since at least 1943, it was becoming increasingly clear that Germany would fold under the pressure of the Allied forces. In February of that year, the German 6th Army, lured deep into the Soviet Union, was annihilated at the Battle of Stalingrad, and German hopes for a sustained offensive on both fronts evaporated. Then, in June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed at Normandy, France, and began systematically to push the Germans back toward Berlin. By July 1944, several German military commanders acknowledged their imminent defeat and plotted to remove Hitler from power so as to negotiate a more favorable peace. Their attempts to assassinate

  Internet Country Code Top-Level Domain By: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority ( IANA ) A .ac – Ascension Island * .ad – Andorra .ae – United Arab Emirates .af – Afghanistan .ag – Antigua and Barbuda * .ai – Anguilla * .al – Albania .am – Armenia * .an – Netherlands Antilles .ao – Angola .aq – Antarctica .ar – Argentina .as – American Samoa * .at – Austria * .au – Australia .aw – Aruba .ax – Åland Islands .az – Azerbaijan B .ba – Bosnia and Herzegovina .bb – Barbados .bd – Bangladesh .be – Belgium .bf – Burkina Faso .bg – Bulgaria .bh – Bahrain .bi – Burundi .bj – Benin .bl – Saint Barthélemy .bm – Bermuda .bn – Brunei .bo – Bolivia .br – Brazil .bs – Bahamas * .bt – Bhutan .bv – Bouvet Island (not in use; no registrations) .bw – Botswana .by – Belarus .bz – Belize C .ca – Canada .cc – Cocos (Keeling) Islands .cd – Democratic Republic of the