-The Hindu Although it has left some crucial questions unanswered, the Verma Committee report is a big step forward in the struggle for women’s rights The UPA government has perhaps got more than what it bargained for from the committee it set up, headed by the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice J.S. Verma, in the wake of the public outrage following the horrific Delhi gang rape. The government had...

Eight journalists from Hindi and English media from six states have been selected for the 2013 Inclusive Media Fellowships of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). In the best tradition of investigative and meaningful journalism, the fellows will spend time with rural communities to bring out their issues and anxieties for public and policy intervention. The fellowship Jury comprising Mr Krishna Prasad, Editor-in-Chief, Outlook, Mr Arvind Mohan,...

-ANI Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said India must chalk out a middle ground for the continuous development of the tribals for rooting out the Maoist menace that is gripping the country. Addressing a lecture, Ramesh pointed out the four Ds that form the base of the ultras operation and resulted violence from their actions. “India’s Maoist challenge, stripped of all its complexity is a challenge that we face in dealing with...

-Al Jazeera UK-based charity says the world's 100 richest people earned enough in 2012 to end global poverty four times over. The world's 100 richest people earned enough money last year to end world extreme poverty four times over, according to a new report released by international rights group and charity Oxfam. The $240 billion net income of the world's 100 richest billionaires would have ended poverty four times over, according to the...

-The Indian Express The dismal picture painted in Pratham’s latest Annual Status of Education Report must provoke policymakers to urgently assess and tackle the crisis in India’s primary school education. Pratham, an NGO, has done stellar work these past years in surveying the learning outcomes in schools countrywide. Its 2012 report details a rapid decline in students’ ability to keep up with the syllabus. It has found, for example, that only...