-The Hindustan Times   Terming its impact in curbing sex-selective abortions in Kolhapur district "heart warming", the Bombay high court (HC), on Friday, upheld the validity of Silent Observer - an electronic device attached to ultrasound machines that helps the administration in tracking sonographies conducted in a district. Dismissing the petition filed by the Maharashtra chapter of Indian Radiology and Imaging Association, the division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice RP...

Recommending civil society vigil to check female Foeticide, a Parliamentary committee has asked the Union Government to ensure that the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, is not circumvented to give way to selective abortion in cases of female Foeticide. It has also called for synchronisation of this Act with the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (PC&PNDT Act), 1994, to check the social evil. It...

A project engaging young men as allies against and not as perpetrators of gender-based violence acting as catalysts to bring about a constructive change in and around their community has proved to be an effective approach. Non-government organisation Independent Commission for People's Rights and Development (ICPRD) undertook the project in three Karnataka districts – Ramnagara, Bellary and Mysore – for three years beginning October 2008. An evaluation report of the project...

While it has achieved exceptional growth in many spheres, Surat is lagging behind in terms of gender equality. As per Surat Municipal Corporation records, the sex ratio shows a dismal trend in the city. The gap is high in the child sex ratio i.e. 0-6 age group.As per birth registration figures provided by SMC, the city is far behind the national average. In 2010, 816 girls were born against 1000 boys...

When Sujatha’s husband learned that she had conceived just five months after they got married, he became agitated over what he called her "ill-timed pregnancy". To worsen her husband’s anxiety, a test to determine the sex of the foetus showed she was carrying a girl. Sujatha, a public school teacher, and her husband, a civil engineer – who asked that their full names be withheld – are from well-off and educated...