-Frontline Former psephologist Yogendra Yadav, now a member of the political collective Swaraj Abhiyan, recently toured India’s drought-affected districts. He called it a Samvedna Yatra. During the tour, he took note of the agony in rural areas affected by what he calls “one of the worst droughts in independent India” The drought, according to him, has left farmers and the larger rural community in extreme distress, leading to damaging changes in...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: A clutch of pesticides that could be carcinogenic and banned in many countries will continue their run in India, though a government panel has recently decided to ban 18 insect killers hazardous to human health and prohibited abroad. This is the first time a decision to ban such a big number of pesticides was taken. There are 261 pesticides registered in India but only 28 had been banned...

-The Hindu Economic agency is one of the most enabling elements to release women from oppression, violence and powerlessness. A Supreme Court Bench has once again proved that our judiciary can be the torchbearer of progressive attitudes towards women. In 2013, the Justice J.S. Verma Committee, while responding to the horrific December 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi, prepared a report that drew from the observations of members of the women’s movement among...

-The Times of India Ahmedabad: In response to a public interest litigation (PIL) asking for implementation of National Food Security Act in Gujarat, the state government has submitted to the Supreme Court that there is no need to provide eggs to children, as part of the mid-day meal scheme in the state. The PIL has been filed by NGO Swaraj Abhiyan, which also asked that milk and eggs should be provided...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A 2012 law to protect children from sexual abuse is being used to target teen romance, a study of such cases in Delhi over the past three years suggests. The study by the National Law School, Bangalore, has shown that in 10 per cent of the cases filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the accused was in a relationship with the victim. In another...