-The United Nations Member States must ensure that the post-2015 development agenda addresses inequalities that prevent millions of people from getting access to basic services, various United Nations entities today stressed. In a joint statement, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Friends of Water, and the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, urged countries to frame the...

-The Times of India Latest census data on scheduled castes and tribes shows that the trend of STs having the best sex ratios, and SCs too doing better than the non-SC/ST population continues to hold good. The trend suggests that 'backwardness' may actually work in favour of Gender justice, presumably by denying access to sex determination techniques. Detailed data on SCs and STs from the 2011 census, released on Monday, showed that...

-Women's Feature Service The ‘gola' or grain basket, built on elevated ground in Goyadham village in Sunderban's South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, is central to the food security of several households here. As Sofia Bibi, 45, says, "The grain is protected from the recurrent flooding and storms and we are ensured of a regular supply when there is no agricultural work during the months of September to November and March to...

India's landmark Right to Information Legislation is called the biggest single step since independence to build transparency in governance. However, its remarkable success is owed only to just 0.3 per cent of Indians who file RTI applications. It's anybody's guess as to what would be the impact if even one or two per cent of Indians began to ask tough questions to hold their rulers accountable. It is noteworthy that...

-PTI NEW DELHI/GENEVA: Indicating a poor state of affairs on Gender parity front, India was today ranked at a low 101st position on a global Gender Gap Index despite an improvement by four places since last year. The index, compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), has ranked 136 countries on how well resources and opportunities are divided between men and women in four broad areas of economy, education, politics, education and...