The deaths of 18 lakh girl children in India in the past two decades have for the first time been linked to domestic violence against their mothers. After examining over 1.58 lakh births that took place between 1985 and 2005, an international team of researchers found that spousal violence against wives increased the risk of death among female children, but not male children, in both the first year and the first...

A number of welfare schemes for women launched, says Minister The Laadli girl child welfare scheme has proved to be a big success with 140,006 girls being registered under it in 2009-10 and as many as 17,085 girls receiving the final maturity payment through their bank accounts, Delhi Social Welfare Minister Kiran Walia said here on Tuesday. Speaking about the performance of various social welfare schemes during the year, Prof. Walia said...

Indian civil society was dismayed and horror-struck when human rights activist Dr Binayak Sen, who has spent over three decades caring for the poor in tribal areas of central India, was sentenced to life imprisonment for ‘sedition’ along with two others, Piyush Guha and Narayan Sanyal by a Raipur Sessions Court judge.  Protests are taking place everywhere in the country and the members of India’s vibrant civil society, peoples’ movements,...

“Show sensitivity to recognise disaffection among tribal societies” “Terrorism can become an internal intruding problem also” Violence against women and elderly is growing: Prime Minister Terrorism, Naxalism, communalism, and management of law in metropolitan cities have thrown up immense challenges to the law and order machinery, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cautioned over the week end . Pointing out that the tribal areas of central India were in the grip of Naxalite menace, Dr. Singh...

It has been a challenge guiding the Editors Guild of India over two years, in what are difficult times for the Indian media. Two years ago, when I was asked to become the President of the Editors Guild of India, I did so with some trepidation. The Guild had a formidable reputation of having been at the forefront of editorial integrity and independence. Set up in the Emergency years, it emerged...