-The Times of India   AHMEDABAD: At a time when NarendraModi's development model is under national spotlight, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has criticized his government in Gujarat for imprudent fiscal management. It has underlined a need for greater professionalism and accountability in the functioning of the government and asked it to be more alert and responsive. The national auditor has said the state government has incurred 41% higher debt than the...

-The Hindu Disagreements within the government seem to have stalled any attempts at ensuring that the UPA regime’s flagship rural job guarantee scheme pays minimum wages in all States. While the Rural Development Ministry has made a deal with the activists who took the government to court over the matter, strong opposition from the Finance Ministry has reportedly stalled any move to amend the law. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act,...

-The Indian Express They are denied entry to temples, given restricted access to water, made to work for a pittance. Now that Orissa's Dalits are asserting themselves against traditions, many are facing ostracism or violent attacks. Debabrata Mohanty reports Until a month before Naveen Patnaik became Orissa's chief minister in March 2000, Dalit labourer Ganapati Naik, now 42, had been living a happy if impoverished life with his bride and parents in...

-First Post It’s so brutally ironical that Ram Singh, perhaps the most hated man in India today for allegedly masterminding the Delhi gangrape, became a victim of rape himself. We still don’t know how he died, but his father has made it public that Singh had been raped in jail. Not just him, even his co-accused had been raped as well. Retributive justice, some say, because the accused had been made to realise...

-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...