-The Hindu The government must allow the online filing of first information reports in rape cases as that alone will ensure mandatory and automatic registration of complaints On January 18, 2013, Delhi police chief Neeraj Kumar announced that Zero First Information Reports (FIRs) may be registered on the basis of a woman’s statement at any police station irrespective of jurisdiction. This means women can file an FIR at any police station and...

-Pratirodh.com If Year 2012 earned the sobriquet of “Year of Scams’ due to serial expose of “super social cop” Arvind Kejeriwal, and the year-end tragic death of girl in Delhi gang rape case reminded us about the most ugly manifestation of ‘Republic of Patriarchy’ in India, Year 2013 promises to be a game changer for the fortunes of welfare state in India as well as political fortunes of UPA-2.   If Narendra Modi,...

-The Hindu Bangalore: The recent police crackdown in Ramnagaram on organ trading resulted in the arrest of a few middlemen, who were found to have lured donors to part with their kidneys for a pittance. But the arrests and investigations have not deterred the touts who run a thriving organ trade business right here, under the very nose of the city police. A team from The Hindu posed as relatives of a...

-Outlook Gollaprolu (AP): The direct cash transfer scheme is not a "jaadu ki chhadi" (magic wand) to reform a "broken down" delivery system and problems are there in its implementation, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said today.  "It (Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme) is not a single 'jaadu ki chhadi' (magic wand). It is an experiment. The world's largest experiment in administrative reforms," he told reporters here. The Union Rural Development Minister's remarks came against...

-Economic and Political Weekly We support cash transfers such as old-age pensions, widow pensions, maternity entitlements and scholarships. However, we oppose the government’s plan for accelerated mass conversion of welfare schemes to Unique Identification Authority (UID)-driven cash transfers. This plan could cause havoc and massive social exclusion. We demand the following: (1) No replacement of food with cash under the public distribution system (PDS). (2) Immediate enactment of a comprehensive National Food Security...