-The Indian Express They are denied entry to temples, given restricted access to water, made to work for a pittance. Now that Orissa's Dalits are asserting themselves against traditions, many are facing ostracism or violent attacks. Debabrata Mohanty reports Until a month before Naveen Patnaik became Orissa's chief minister in March 2000, Dalit labourer Ganapati Naik, now 42, had been living a happy if impoverished life with his bride and parents in...

-The Telegraph Sex offenders in prison often find themselves positioned on the lowest rungs of a hierarchy of inmates, which exposes them to particularly bad treatment from fellow prisoners, psychologists who have studied jail violence have said. They say the phenomenon is believed to be widespread and, in some countries, has prompted law-enforcement authorities to segregate sex offenders from other inmates in prisons where they are viewed as vulnerable to physical attacks. Delhi...

-The Indian Express The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre, state governments and Union Territories on the status of police reforms till date. Citing its 2006 order on the issue that included enhanced police accountability, the court asked all chief and home secretaries and DGPs to file their responses on the extent of compliance within a week. A Bench led by G S Singhvi directed the Punjab DGP to file his own...

-The Economist A steadily rising Muslim population continues to fall behind IT TELLS you something hopeful perhaps that, for all the horror unleashed when two bombs laid by presumed militant Islamists ripped through a crowd in Hyderabad on February 21st, India’s public response has been muted. The blasts killed 16 and injured 117. Both the method of the attack (bombs in metal tiffin boxes strapped to bicycles) and its location (near a...

-The Times of India In a heart rending plea, a person acquitted of rape charges has moved the Supreme Court seeking restoration of his lost dignity and honour. If the Nirbhaya case sensitized politicians, police, judiciary and media on security of women as well as not revealing the identity of a rape victim, the man who was acquitted in the similarly sensational Mayapuri rape presented to the court how a person framed...