-The Hindustan Times A new study has put the number of people in modern slavery worldwide at an estimated 29.8 million. India tops the list for nation-wise figures, with almost 14 million people trapped in different forms of slavery. These shocking figures, released in a new Global Slavery Index report, measure debt bondage, forced marriage, sale or exploitation of children, human trafficking and forced labour across the world. The index, released by the...

-The Times of India LONDON: India, the world's child marriage capital, has once again failed its under-age brides. The country has refused to sign the first-ever global resolution on early and forced marriage of children led by the UN. The resolution was supported by a cross-regional group of over 107 countries, including almost all countries with high rates of child marriage-Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Chad, Guatemala, Honduras and Yemen. The resolution floated by...

-The Indian Express Thiruvananthapuram: Underage marriage among Muslims has ignited a debate in Kerala, with the community's most influential organisation vowing to get legitimacy for the practice while political parties and women's groups have said it would be a setback when Muslim girls have been making strides in education. It was triggered by a government effort to ratify underage marriages that have already taken place, because many such couples were finding...

-Governance Now The UNESCO report, which points at a direct link between quality education for women and lower child mortality rates, will be released in early 2014 As India has one of the world's highest child mortality rates, the latest UN study says that rate would have been down by three-fifths had women in the country completed secondary education. "If all women in India had completed secondary education, the under-five mortality rate would...

-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Shedding their image of being indifferent to the idea of women empowerment, a cluster of 20 villages under the Thuakhap of Jind district has banned sex selection and female feticide and announced a fine of Rs 11,000 on violators. The violators would be socially boycotted in case the offence is repeated. According to the khap spokesperson, Jitender Singh Chhattar, the community leaders, in a meeting held on Sunday...