-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Hours before he was removed from the land consolidation department, Haryana's whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka had framed a few novel rules to put an end to fraudulent benami land deals in the state. In his last-ditch effort to rein in land sharks, Khemka, the then inspector general of registration, on October 10, made the Aadhaar number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India mandatory for...

-The Indian Express Lokayukta issues notice to finance corporation: Who took the decision to put the pictures? Delhi Lokayukta Manmohan Sarin has issued a notice to the Delhi State SC/SC/OBC/Minority and Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation (DSFDC) to explain the decision behind the new loan application forms, which are now being sold at Rs 100 each with pictures of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chouhan printed on them. The...

-The Hindu Recognising pre-natal sex selection as an unacceptable form of gender discrimination, the National Human Rights ComMISsion (NHRC) had asked key States across the country to submit a report on implementation of the Pre-conception & Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques (PCPNDT) Regulations and Prevention of MISuse Act (Amendments in 2004) based on a set of recommendations issued by the NHRC. A reporting format was also sent to all stakeholders. But over a year...

-The Hindu Women continue to be invisible to planners, despite their high levels of contribution to the national economy, says a UN Women paper on women and forests Some of the present policies in forest management are detrimental to the poor, particularly women, states a UN Women paper by NC Saxena, member National Advisory Council, even as he suggests changes that could ameliorate their condition. Despite economic growth, gender inequalities in “critical human development...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Has the amendment to the Hindu Succession Act conferring equal rights over property to daughters shattered the peace at home? A study put together by an American and a Canadian university not only arrives at this conclusion but goes one step further and draws a co-relation between the Act being changed in 2005 and a subsequent rise in suicides. The paper, called 'Suicide and Property Rights in...