-The Hindu With just 9 lakh more male voters than female voters in the four phases, women are finally in a position to swing the outcome. Fifty years ago, a political party with ambitions of winning in Bihar could safely ignore its women. Not only were far fewer women than men registered to vote, but even fewer actually showed up to vote. In 1967, for instance, female turnout was 41 per cent...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Jean Dreze, eminent economist and a former member of the National Advisory Council during the UPA regime, was dropped from a high profile economics conference organized by the finance ministry.  Dreze, who has been critical of some of the measures of the NDA government, was invited to speak at the Delhi Economics Conclave on Friday.  "This is the invitation I received and accepted some time ago. On...

-The Indian Express Over nine years after the Supreme Court asked all states and the Centre to bring in reforms to make the police forces more people-centric than ruler-centric, not much has changed on the ground. Few weeks back, following a spate of crimes against women and children in the city, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “Modi-ji, please give up your stubborn attitude and let’s work together. Give police and ACB...

-The Times of India GUWAHATI: Mizoram and Meghalaya are the two states in the country with the least gender gap, according to McKinsey Global Institute's (MGI) "The Power of Parity: Advancing Women Equality in India" report. The gender parity in the two northeastern states, along with that of Kerala, Goa, and Sikkim, are roughly in line with that of Argentina, China, or Indonesia, the report says. In contrast, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: At a time when the Centre is being cornered for not being able to rein in its ministers and leaders of the ruling party who are making provocative speeches, the government has justified before the Supreme Court the retention of penal provision for hate speeches and has even supported the prosecution of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for promoting hatred between Hindus and Muslims. According to the...