#1 · Times Special / Page 15 · Ground report / Accountability Where ‘School’ Means a Tree, Tin Shed, or Locked Gate By Rajiv Saxena & Vaishali Pitliya · The Times of India · Page 15 TOI reporters travelled across six Rajasthan districts to examine government schools following the controversy over outsiders being prevented from inspecting campuses. They found children studying in municipal kiosks and under trees, schools operating from single rented rooms, unsafe classrooms, unusable toilets and severe teacher shortages. In Kota alone, a PWD survey found 61 school buildings entirely ruined, while one school in the Chief Minister’s Sanganer constituency has 404 students squeezed into four usable classrooms. In Piplodi, where seven children died in a roof collapse last year, classes are still being held in a farmer’s two-room house. This is easily the strongest piece in the edition. Saxena, Pitliya and the wider reporting team

Journalist Kundan Jadhav died by suicide at his residence in Vaturkar Layout in the Khadan area of Akola. Jadhav was reportedly alone at home when he took the extreme step. His wife, journalist Priyanka, and their two daughters had gone to a hospital. When they returned with Jadhav’s father, they found him hanging at home. The incident was reported to the Khadan police, who reached the spot and conducted a panchnama. Police registered an accidental death case. Police Inspector Manoj Kedare said the exact reason behind Jadhav’s death was not yet known and that an investigation was underway. Jadhav’s body was cremated at Khadan Mokshadham on Thursday afternoon.    Image source: Loksatta 

AI Generated Image South India is seeing renewed interest from business publishers, with at least three media organisations preparing dedicated financial newspapers as journalists argue that the region’s economic weight has not always been matched by the depth of business coverage it receives. Express Publications, publisher of The New Indian Express, is planning a national financial daily from Kochi by the end of October. Chennai-based Kumudam is preparing a bilingual Tamil-English business newspaper, while Dinamalar is planning a Tamil business daily by the end of the year. The proposed launches come as South India continues to strengthen its position across manufacturing, automobiles, IT, infrastructure and emerging industries such as semiconductors and electric vehicles. Economic analyst V Balasubramanian estimates that the southern states together account for around 30–31% of India's GDP. The renewed interest also reflects a wider expansion in business journa

The long-running efforts by media organisations to overturn a suppression order, which is protecting the identity of a high-profile individual involved in a black mail case, has failed. A Cairns court ruled to keep the man’s identity a secret because it believed not doing so might deter future blackmail victims from coming forward. The man, who can only be referred to as MM, is part of a black mail case which involves a woman he is alleged to have had a relationship with, being blackmailed. A former partner of the woman had threatened to expose the alleged affair between her and MM. Media outlets including Nine and the ABC had applied to the Supreme Court for a judicial review of the non-publication order originally made back in May. However Justice James Hendry dismissed the challenge in what has been reported to be a one-minute hearing. “Future prospective complainants would likely perceive the nature of the exposure featured by the complainant here was not merely

Albanese declares “code orange” as One Nation surges Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers have escalated their warnings about One Nation after a shock Secret Harbour by-election result, framing the party as a divisive, hard-right populist threat and urging Labor to fight back. With polling showing a volatile contest and One Nation’s momentum spilling into Victoria, the story signals a sharper, more polarised political contest and heightened risk for Labor seats nationwide. Covered by: Daily Telegraph, The West Australian, Australian Financial Review, Herald Sun, The Australian, Courier Mail. Nepal flood catastrophe deepens, with Australians unaccounted for Catastrophic flooding and mudslides in Nepal—linked to a glacial lake collapse—have left towns buried in mud, families searching for missing relatives, and rescue efforts racing against time as hopes fade. Australian coverage highlights both the scale of the humanitarian disaster and the anxiety around m

The Twenty Sided Social Club offers a "safe space for people to come and play [tabletop] games," says co-founder Nathanael Peacock, a PR practitioner and gaming journalist. The club was founded by several game masters, including Peacock, his wife Marian Casey, journalist Fergus Halliday, and professional game master Alicia Warren, after a former for-profit games club folded. “A number of the other game and dungeon masters looked at the community and thought if this stops, all of these people lose their community overnight”, Peacock told Influencing.  “I said, ‘How do we keep this going in a way that doesn't push the cost onto the players’. So we went through the legal loopholes and the government discussion to see to how do we turn it into a not-for-profit, a cooperative or a community group”.  The club has run for more than a year, initially as a community group, and is now finalising paperwork to become a formal cooperative. Peacock said that outside of the afore

The Telegraph Young Metro inducted a new batch of student reporters from around 50 schools at the YM Force Meet held at Vidya Mandir Auditorium, Kolkata, on August 21.  The event introduced the young reporters to report writing and communication skills and encouraged them to cover school events for The Telegraph Student Edition. Several schools participated for the first time, with students sharing their plans to report on activities at their institutions.  The outgoing batch was also recognised with certificates for participation, active correspondence and championship performance. Birla High School emerged as the champion, followed by St Augustine’s Day School, Shyamnagar.  Consultant psychiatrist Dr Sanjay Garg also addressed students on mental health, examination stress, anxiety and social media pressure, encouraging them to seek help and take short breaks during stressful situations.