-Outlook Congress-ruled Delhi has earned "a most dubious reputation" from the point of view of women's safety, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh has said while giving suggestions to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to improve it. In a letter to Dikshit, the Rural Development Minister has suggested that the women helpline (181) should only have women telephone operators so that te caller can convey her problem without any hesitation. Student volunteers could also be considered...

-Outlook Taking a strong stand against the statements made by some politicians after the Delhi gang rape incident, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh today said such people should be asked to "go home". The minister said he felt "diminished as a human being" after the December incident which has hurt India's image across the world. "None of us have come out of this looking good. Personally as a man, as an Indian, I felt...

-The Hindu Subsidies on cooking gas, kerosene and diesel have resulted in perverse outcomes not envisaged when they were introduced With the Aadhaar-based direct cash transfer scheme facing so many glitches in implementation, any hopes that the country’s energy sector can soon dismount the subsidy tiger it has been riding so dangerously have receded into the background. Had the Aadhaar scheme worked satisfactorily, the next logical step would have been to extend...

-PTI The oil ministry has proposed a Rs 3-4.50 per litre hike in diesel price and Rs 100 in LPG rates along with raising the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinders for households to nine a year from the current cap of six. The ministry has moved a note for consideration of the Cabinet proposing options for meeting a record Rs 160,000 crore deficit arising from selling auto and cooking fuels below...

-The Times of India With violence against Indian women on the rise, the debate over feminist politics and its relevance has acquired new importance. Academic Nivedita Menon has researched this in Seeing Like A Feminist. Speaking with Amrita Nandy, Menon discussed the role and energy of feminism today, how rape and dress are analysed by convention versus feminism — and how feminism eventually liberates women, even from being feminists: * You write...