-IANS Discussed on the interim outcomes of a pilot project initiated in October 2012 to address their social exclusion Policy makers, experts and civil society representatives met here Tuesday to discuss the social inclusion of sex workers and transgenders in three high-prevalence HIV states - Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The meet was jointly hosted by the National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) and the Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR). The...

-The Hindu Suicide has been part of everyday conversation in many living rooms, but there is little understanding of why it happens Everyone has opinions on why people they have never met, and do not know, kill themselves. I hear people say things like "what a cowardly thing to do," or "he was weak". The words are redolent of casual judgment, perhaps born out of familiarity and even fear: the thoughts that...

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Probably, this can be said about the ‘Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2012', which carries the latest figures on the social sector by far. The report has provided some interesting trends in child mortality indicators for India and its bigger states during 2012 (see the links below). It says that states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, which have consistently...

-The Hindu Under India's labour laws, women engaged in "informal" work - such as domestic work - have few workplace rights. This makes it harder for women to have sustainable jobs, let alone a career. Nearly 400 million people live in cities in India and during the next 40 years that number will more than double. Not only is the proportion of India's total female population that is economically active is among...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The UPA government is expected to announce a minor increase in the outlays for social sector schemes, while leaving the overall Plan expenditure for 2014-15 around the same level as the Budget estimates for the current fiscal. In what may be seen as shunning populism for a more pragmatic fiscal plan, finance minister P Chidambaram is in fact expected to penalize several poor performers, who...