-Live Mint Even as India struggles in efforts to usher in transparency, some panchayats are offering a refreshing contrast Chandana/Jind: Sometime last year, Surendra Singh got a call from a military outpost in Srinagar. The soldier had an urgent inquiry for the 31-year-old sarpanch of Chandana, a village in Haryana's Kaithal district. The man, who hailed from the village, had lost his voter ID card and needed a letter from the...

-Live Mint Almost two decades after the Panchayati Raj Act was notified, a key aim of the legislation remains unfulfilled Papapatti/Madurai district: S. Muruganadam, 38, is the Dalit president of the Papapatti village panchayat in Madurai district and a post-graduate in political science. His term ends in 2016 and he has made up his mind not to run for re-election. "I think a panchayat president's post is an important post because only...

-Live Mint Almost two decades after the Panchayati Raj Act was notified, a key aim of the legislation remains unfulfilled Papapatti/Madurai district: S. Muruganadam, 38, is the Dalit president of the Papapatti village panchayat in Madurai district and a post-graduate in political science. His term ends in 2016 and he has made up his mind not to run for re-election. "I think a panchayat president's post is an important post because only he...

-NDTV April 15, Gandhi Nagar, Delhi: A five-year-old girl is raped by two sexual predators, both young adults The shocking gang-rape has raised many questions. Where are the perpetrators of rape coming from? What makes them commit rape? To prevent sexual abuse and sexual violence against children, understanding the minds of the sex offenders is of utmost importance. Experts in the field of mental health and child abuse say perpetrators are like any of...

-The Hindu To bridge the gap in development between the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and non-SCs and STs, a coalition of more than 150 organisations is demanding a national law to prevent, once and for all, the diversion, non-release, non-implementation and lapsing of the Special Component Plans for SCs/STs. In response to the coalition's longstanding demands, the National Advisory Council's guidance and the letter Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Prime Minister...