-The Business Standard Expenses such as employment guarantees and loan waivers are, in effect, subsidies that are classified differently in government accounts Over the last few years, the government announced many policy initiatives that purportedly help the weaker sections of our society. Schemes initiated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) or the distribution of free and affordable food items under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are examples...

-The Indian Express New Delhi: Stating that denying out-of-school children admission constitutes a "clear cut deprivation of their right to education", Directorate of Education has ordered schools to enrol all such children. A fact sheet released by the Delhi Right to Education Forum has revealed that only 70 per cent of Delhi's children go to school, against the national figure of 94.5 per cent and 100 per cent for states such as...

-NDTV Sexual harassment and sexual assault are crimes no matter when or where they occur and those responsible must be held accountable under the law. When these crimes happen at the workplace and involve a senior person abusing his authority to put a female worker under pressure, the company concerned also has an institutional legal responsibility to investigate and take action. When that workplace happens to be a magazine, newspaper or...

-Outlook New Delhi: The Centre today asked state governments to put all information related to implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Public Distribution System in public domain. It has also asked states to ensure proactive disclosure under Right to Information (RTI) Act of information on public works done by a department at block and panchayat levels. Section 4 of the RTI Act, 2005 lays down that information should be...

-The Network of Women in Media (India) Recent developments at the weekly news magazine Tehelka demonstrate that media houses have a long way to go in ensuring safety for women media professionals. A journalist working with Tehelka revealed that she was sexually assaulted by the editor, Tarun Tejpal, on two occasions on 7 and 8 November 2013. The repeated harassment and assault over two days took place during Tehelka's "Think" festival in...