-Outlook Out in our streets, disabled people feel the pain everyday The Gaping Holes     India yet to get a cohesive, standardised sign language     Barrier-free infrastructure yet to be implemented in public areas like bus stations, railway stations, schools, cinema halls     Lack of basic, inclusive civic facilities: no audio-enabled traffic signals, pavements with ramps, few disability-friendly toilets, negligible penalties     Poor functional entertainment accessibility, like no subtitling on local language TV channels     Reservation...

-The Hindu The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics for 2011 said Bangalore ranks fourth among cities of the country in recorded rape cases. The city accounted for 3.8 per cent of the reported cases in the country. When all crimes against women were considered, Bangalore went up a couple of notches to occupy the second place. The latest reports of gang rape — on three women, which came within a week...

-The Hindu ‘Vision document mooted to designate them as ‘separate urban natural resources’ The Urban Development Ministry has constituted a working group to suggest ways to preserve water bodies. Rapid disappearance of water bodies from the urban landscape has sounded an alarm vis-à-vis water shortfall and has also put a considerable strain on States’ spending to meet the demand for water. A case in point is Bangalore. Despite having a Lake Development Authority that...

-The Hindu Bangalore: Many persons with disabilities are jobless and unable to get or denied their paltry pension Seven-year-old Sadiya lies awake as her parents and siblings, who have just returned from an overnight trip to a dargah, catch up on their sleep. Lying on her back, no taller than an average toddler, she wails when she spots strangers at her door. Sadiya shares the tin-roofed 10 ft by 10 ft space...

-The Times of India Bangalore: After the big fat wedding is done with and the guests have gone home, what remains is the litter, dirty dishes and piles of excess high-calorie food. Enough to feed lakhs of children, in a country where malnutrition has been termed a "national shame" by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Statistics show that every third malnourished child in the world is an Indian. A survey shows that annually,...