-The Times of India LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh may be blaming it on political conspiracy for the "selective focus" on crimes in Uttar Pradesh but here are cold statistics - the latest data from National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) reveals that total number of crime incidents have risen to 21 lakh in 2013 from 18 lakh in 2012, when the party came to power. Crime against women escalated...

India has witnessed many fiery debates on poverty estimates. Equally contentious has been the issue of inequality. Now a new report on exclusion offers a fresh perspective on poverty, inequality and social justice. (See below a summary of the report) Based on data and knowledge resources available in the public domain, India Exclusion Report 2013-14 highlights the systematic discrimination faced by women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Muslims, persons with...

-The Hindu   We need freeways, but we also need forests. crimes against women have been constantly in the news. But crimes against nature remain largely unreported. Given the current climate, with the Intelligence Bureau claiming that non-governmental organisations like the crusading international environmental group Greenpeace, are detrimental to India's progress, and with the ubiquitous ‘foreign hand' making a serendipitous comeback, such crimes are likely to become invisible, noticed only by those who have...

-Down to Earth   The Badaun rape incident shows how vulnerable women are to sexual violence when there are no toilets in homes The shocking incident of gang rape and murder of two minor girls in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district has drawn horrified reactions from leaders across the world. While most of the media attention has been on the apathy and insensitivity shown by the Akhilesh Yadav government and the police force, what...

-Al Jazeera   Activists and feminists seek implementation of law to check violence against women as new government is sworn in. New Delhi - Two days after Narendra Modi emerged victorious in India's national elections, Kiran battled the heat and crowd to see the man she had voted for in the ancient city of Varanasi. Modi, a leader of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, who took oath as the prime minister of India on...