-The Telegraph Ranchi: The state information commission, mandated to ensure enactment of a sunshine law that aims to empower citizens by allowing access to crucial official documents and decisions has stopped work in Jharkhand as it has no officer to hear cases. Headed by chief information commissioner Justice (retired) D.K.Sinha, the commission is meant to have 10 information commissioners (IC) to hear cases filed under the Right to Information Act. But, all posts...

-The Times of India An evening dedicated to her 'fighting spirit' filled with lavish praise and thunderous applause ended in disappointment for Nirbhaya's family. The family invited to accept an award on behalf of Nirbhaya had hoped to appeal to President PranabMukherjee to hang the juvenile accused in the December 16 gang rape case. However, they did not get a chance to do so. The President on Friday gave away the Rani...

-The Hindustan Times Racing against time to meet the March 22 deadline for getting Parliament’s nod on its tougher anti-rape bill replacing the existing ordinance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called a special cabinet meeting on Tuesday to approve the proposed legislation. On a day when Congress chief Sonia Gandhi promised a quick passage of the bill and said crimes against women make “our heads hang in shame”, the government went into...

-The Hindu Though Bill on protection of women against sexual harassment at workplace has been passed in LS, activists are sceptical about its impact on MNCs They are powerful Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) which hold a clout in the market, but have flouted norms with impunity when it came to their own women staffers complaining of sexual harassment at workplace. Now, even as the country is set to welcome the first law for...

-The Hindu Until we embrace the idea of consent in all relationships, including marriage, there can be no gender equality. Its absence makes discussions on sexual abuse meaningless The man who was my abuser was a fine host, a good husband, a caring father, a respected elder whose generosity and kindness were as genuine as the fact of the abuse. These qualities were important, because they helped him conceal the abuse he...