-The Hindustan Times Some weeks ago, much before the gruesome gang rape and murder in the capital ruptured the country's conscience and forced our people out of their stupor to rise in widespread angry protests, The Guardian had posed the following question: "Of all the G-20 nations, India has been labeled as the worst place to be a woman. But how is this possible in a country that prides itself as being...

-The Hindu The Union government should dispel the States’ fears of centralisation if it wants to rescue the idea from total rejection The idea of a national water framework law mooted by the Central government has run into strong opposition from the Chief Ministers of several States. The aim of this article is to clarify the issues involved for the information of the general public. I am obliged to strike a personal note...

-The Indian Express Gangrape speaks of the deep pathologies in the way young men are socialised. We should look within I hate item numbers,” exclaimed a (male) film actor in the midst of a talk show about the gangrape in Delhi that shook the nation. Immediately, there was a heated discussion about the uselessness of item numbers in the midst of Hindi films. Some spoke vehemently about how these songs were sexually...

-The Hindu When a political party puts up candidates with criminal charges, it results in the alienation of large sections of people from the political class and politics itself When the Election Commission of India turned 60 on January 25, 2010, The Hindu opened its lead editorial of January 29 with the words, “After overseeing 15 General Elections to the Lok Sabha, the ECI, in its diamond jubilee year, can with justifiable...

-Frontline The Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill is an attempt to circumvent the hurdles before acquisition, such as rehabilitation of land losers, without much increasing the cost of land. THE preamble to the draft Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation (LARR) Bill is very noble; it talks about a “humane, informed, consultative and transparent process for land acquisition for industrialisation, development of essential infrastructural facilities and urbanisation with the least disturbance...