-The Hindu The view that it will deter rape is misplaced and based on a narrow, sexual intercourse-definition of the crime There is a fascinating urban legend that Apple’s logo is dedicated to Alan Turing, who committed suicide by biting into a cyanide injected apple. A few years after he was instrumental in breaking the German Enigma code in World War II, Alan Turing was convicted in 1952 for homosexual acts in...

-The Hindustan Times Jaipur: Indian women are speaking out against violence, enraged by the gangrape of a 23-year-old inside a moving bus in Delhi. But past records show that women – especially in the hinterlands – who dare to speak up usually fight a lone battle against the system. Hindustan Times profiles a few courageous rape victims in Rajasthan, who are still awaiting justice. Bhanwari Devi (Bhateri, Jaipur district) Bhanwari Devi was gangraped in...

-Outlook Karimnagar (AP): A debt-ridden weaver allegedly committed suicide in Karimnagar district, police said today. Goli Yadagiri (55), a weaver from Mandepalli urban colony in Sircilla town, 40 kms from here, had borrowed money from private lenders for the marriage of his daughter. However, after failing to clear the debt, he took the extreme step and hanged himself from the ceiling fan in his house last night, police said. A case has been registered...

-The Hindu Jaipur: Twenty-five years have passed since Rajasthan witnessed its last known case of sati; it has been 20 years since Bhanwri Devi of Bhateri was allegedly gang-raped for raising her voice against girl child marriages; and it took 15 years for a gang-rape victim in the J.C. Bose hostel rape case to get justice. With these “landmarks” serving as a background, the ‘One Billion Rising’ campaign was launched in Rajasthan...

-Frontline A JOINT study by the UNICEF and the National Institute of Medical Statistics (a division of the Indian Council of Medical Research) on the levels, trends and determinants of infant and under-five mortality has concluded that at the current pace, India is unlikely to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets or the child survival goals of the Twelfth Plan. This, despite there being a consistent decline in the infant...