About one crore girls vanish every year through foeticide or other forms of killing, Governor of Uttarakhand Margaret Alva said here on Wednesday. She was addressing a seminar on women's rights here organised by Congress leader Janet D Souza's non-governemental organisation ‘Parivartan.' “We call it the disappearing sex. One crore girls die every year or are not allowed [to be born],” Ms. Alva said. On the issue of ‘honour killings,' she...

Four mega-programmes of the government, meant to tackle big-ticket issues like child nutrition, school education, health and employment, appear to be faltering not because funds are short but because adequate manpower has not been put in place. This is the surprising finding of a new study done by the Center for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), a New Delhi based think tank. The four mega-programs are Integrated Child Development Services...

The sex ratio in Haryana has dipped again in 2010 after encouraging signs of reversal in 2009, showing that female foeticide is still prevailing across the state. The health department figures for last year show a negative trend in 17 districts in the 0-6 age group. The disclosure has forced the government to do a rethink on policies being framed to arrest the slide. According to figures available till 2010-end,...

Sajha Manch – a network representing farmers' groups and voluntary organisations – appealed to the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj bodies and members of the Rajasthan Assembly here on Tuesday to exert pressure on the State Government to nullify a controversial agreement signed with bio-technology giant Monsanto of the U.S. for partnership in agricultural research and hybrid seed production. The Sajha Manch regretted that the pact had been signed in July...

There is no dearth of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), but Karnataka's record of utilising these funds has been poor, especially in backward districts such as Gulbarga. Of the Rs. 150 crore allocated for the district under the scheme, only Rs. 50 crore has been utilised. The fund usage is also not up to the mark in Bidar and Davangere districts, said M. Nagendra...