JAIPUR: Taking a cue from Kolhapur district in Maharashtra, the Pali district in Rajasthan will install ultra sound tracking technology device called 'silent observer' (SIOB) at all the sonography centres in the district to control sex selection and female feticide. The district administration will start installing the device from May 18 at all the 35 sonography centres operational in the district. The main server of the 'silent observer' will be at the...

-The Economist HOW should one judge the lot of women in India, a country that is in many ways progressive, modern, tolerant and yet by turns repressive and hostile? Women hold the highest political positions (the presidency, speaker of parliament, leader of the ruling party, leader of the opposition in parliament, several chief ministers of large states) and in theory they are protected by a variety laws promoting equality. Though development indicators...

New census data on asset ownership among different social groups has shown that a far higher proportion of scheduled castes and higher still of scheduled tribes do not own basic consumer durables like a phone or bicycle as compared to "others". Three states however buck this trend; across caste groupings in Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the rate of ownership of basic consumer durables is high. In fact, the asset ownership...

Population has started to swell in Delhi's suburbs. Gurgaon and Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar) are among the top five places in India that recorded the highest decadal growth rate in population. While Gurgaon recorded a 74% increase in population between 2001 and 2011, Noida saw a rise by almost 52%. India saw a 17.6% increase in population over the decade. Kurung Kumey - a small district in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China -...

-PTI A Parliamentary Panel on Thursday expressed concern over the "slow pace and uneven coverage" of BPL survey under the Socio Economic and Caste census-2011 (SECC). Noting that the survery under the SECC is yet to commence in the states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Manipur, the Standing Committee on Rural Development asked the government to adopt a "more action-oriented approach" including regular monitoring of the progress in co-ordination with the...