-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Marital rape could soon be an offence, if a Centre-appointed panel has its way. The Pam Rajput committee, that recently submitted its report to the women and child development (WCD) ministry, has recommended that as a pro-woman measure, marital rape should be consider an offence irrespective of the age of the wife and the relationship between the perpetrator and survivor. The recommendations will be discussed in an inter-ministerial...

-The Hindu The introduction of educational qualifications as eligibility criteria for contesting panchayat elections has shocked and angered rural Rajasthan, including supporters of the ruling BJP When the literacy drive was in full force, I happened to visit a village in Ajmer district with a friend who was a civil servant. There was bold graffiti on a prominent school wall, which said: Saksharta ki kya pehchan? Upar chaddi, niche baniyan (How do...

-The Times of India RAIPUR: Even as Chhattisgarh witnessed around 1,500 incidents and 210 deaths of women assaulted for practices witchcraft in last few years, three women wait for justice after suffering assault, paraded naked, tonsured and forced to consume urine over similar accusations 13 years ago at Gariyaband's Lachkhera region. The women Teerath Bai, Shyama and Bisahin Bai had hit national headlines in October 2001 after they underwent torture by more...

-The Times of India LONDON: India should give political asylum to American whistleblower Edward Snowden for exposing the US cyber snooping programme that targeted India in a big way, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told TOI on Wednesday. Assange, who is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 19 last year, said in an exclusive interview that India was among the first countries he had approached for asylum. But he...

-The Times of India     LONDON: India should give political asylum to American whistleblower Edward Snowden for exposing the US cyber snooping programme that targeted India in a big way, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told TOI on Wednesday. Assange, who is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 19 last year, said in an exclusive interview that India was among the first countries he had approached for asylum. But he...