-Pratirodh Bureau With the mercury plummeting, thousands of homeless people continue to bear the harsh winter in the absence of sufficient night shelters in Jaipur city.   A survey released by the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), which voluntarily monitors the condition of night shelters, claims that 40% of these shelters have improper bedding facility. Also, many poor are still spending night in the open due to sufficient shelters.   Here is the survey...

-The Hindu Turmoil took over the pre-trial proceedings of the Delhi gang rape trial on Monday when some lawyers objected to a few advocates coming forward to defend the accused. The disruptions did not die down even after Metropolitan Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal entered the courtroom at 12.30 p.m., when the five accused were to be produced. Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma said the relatives of some of the accused had asked him...

-The Hindu Many State governments favour bringing down the age bar for juvenile offenders from 18 years to 16 to deal with growing cases of sexual assault. A meeting of State Directors-General of Police and Chief Secretaries held on Friday here, however, could not come to a consensus on awarding the death penalty to rape convicts. In the rape case of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student, one of the six people allegedly involved...

-The Times of India BHOPAL/JABALPUR: The Madhya Pradesh government is compiling a list of convicted sexual offenders to ensure that they do not get government jobs as part of a series of measures to check crimes against women in the state. A government spokesperson said a DSP rank officer will be appointed in each district to check such crimes and that charge-sheets in these cases will be filed within two weeks. There has...

-The Hindu The Delhi bus rape has galvanised the country on the neglected issue of women’s safety. A look at several cities shows the need for large scale reform – of the police, the law, the legal process, and security in public places. One thought, one hoped, it would not happen in this case but most unfortunately, it did. In all the outrage, the outpouring of horror, grief and anger, that devastating...