-Down to Earth Schools in Maharashtra do not want responsibility, say the scheme hampers teaching THE Maharashtra government may allow schools in the state to outsource midday meal with the consent of school management committees (SMCs). The Mid Day Meal Committee, constituted by the state government, recommended in early November that education societies which run more than one school can outsource midday meal to a single agency if the SMCs agree. The...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Around two in five men in India - nearly 40.7% - were found to hold 'rigid and discriminatory' gender views. This segment believes women to be inferior. Such men are very controlling. They tend to dictate whom the wives can meet and do not allow participation in decision-making. Further, men who hold the most rigid views of masculinity are three times more likely to physically abuse their...

-The Hindu     To be able to deliver appropriate legal services to the rural and tribal communities, we need an alternative delivery system with a different model of legal service providers Delivery of legal services to the rich and the corporate class is organised not through individual lawyers but through a series of networked law firms. These firms employ hundreds of lawyers and domain experts all over the country to provide highly specialised...

-Down to Earth Expresses concern over alcohol brands being advertised in violation of rules India is emerging as the favourite destination for alcohol promotion of marketing companies. Their new targets are women and youth, who at present comprise a very small percentage of alcohol consumers in India. These are the observations made by a report-Alcohol Marketing and Regulatory Policy Environment in India-put out by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). It...

-Outlook The case of the gutsy young Tehelka journalist, who has blown the cover on the sexual assault she faced from Tarun Tejpal, underlines the need to enforce the implementation of the Vishaka guidelines Listen. Can you hear it? That low growl on the horizon, coming closer, growing louder? It's the dam bursting its bounds. It's the quiet shriek of convivial silence being ripped apart. The silence around the normalizing of a...