-Outlook The Centre has decided it would not reimburse the states for unsubsidised LPG cylinders used for Mid-Day Meal scheme and that the cooking gas would now be available only at market price, triggering protests and fears that it will "adversely" impact the flagship programme. Concerned over the additional financial burden the move would have on their coffers, some states are planning to send representation to the HRD Ministry. According to a recent...

-Hindustan Times The Delhi government has launched a series of three Hindi posters on child sexual abuse to spread awareness among school children at a time when such assaults are on the rise in the national Capital. The women and child development department put up around 5,000 copies of the posters — which highlight ‘good and bad touch’, ways to protect themselves against inappropriate behaviour and whom to contact in such a...

-Economic and Political Weekly While insufficient sanitation facilities often get represented in statistics and are reported in the literature on urban infrastructure planning and contested urban spaces, what is often left out is the everyday practice and experience of going to dysfunctional toilets, particularly by women. By analysing the practices and problems associated with toilet use from a phenomenological perspective, this article aims to situate the issue in the everyday lives...

-Frontline As rural Karnataka reels under an unprecedented wave of suicides by farmers, the State administration looks on, unwilling to address the reasons that have rendered rural livelihoods fragile. DEATH stalks rural Karnataka. In the 41 days between July 1 and August 10, as many as 245 farmers committed suicide, an average of six a day; since April 1, 284 farmers have taken their lives. As a bewildered State government gropes...

-The Times of India ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court on Tuesday took a serious note of the pathetic condition of primary schools in the state and directed the chief secretary to ensure that children/wards of government officials/servants, those serving in the local bodies, representatives of people and judiciary, etc., send their wards to these schools. "Only then would they be serious enough to look into the requirements of these schools and ensure...