-Scroll.in Trade unionists fear a large part of the unorganised sector might be left out of the ambit of the government’s labour code on social security. Rekha Patil, a vegetable seller on a footpath in suburban Mumbai, is a small part of India’s vast informal economy. Her husband, a farmer in Palghar, about 110 km north of Mumbai, has an unreliable income. But Patil’s earnings of Rs 350 a day barely sustain...

-News18.com Acclaimed journalist and Founder-Editor of the People’s Archive of Rural India, P Sainath attributes the existential crisis confronting India’s agrarian society to macro-economic policies set in motion 25 years ago. Talking to Anuradha SenGupta, Sainath makes a case for state intervention in agriculture and says the Modi government, with its shifting positions and policies like demonetisation has only aggravated the assault on agrarian livelihoods. Dismissing the buzz about imminent new initiatives...

-Newsclick.in According to patients’ accounts, the 108 helpline either did not respond, or the condition of the ambulance was reported to be ‘not fit’ to ferry patients. The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) staged demonstrations on December 10 in Shimla outside the district commissioner’s (DC’s) office, against the deteriorating health facilities for women in government hospitals in Himachal Pradesh. There are three government hospitals in the state capital – Indira Gandhi Medical...

-Hindustan Times There’s no shortage of talent. For over two decades, women have occupied 33% of seats in panchayats and done so well that states like Bihar bumped up their quota to 50%. Exactly 101 years after the 19th Amendment granted American women suffrage, a record 116 women, including the first Muslim, the first Native American and the youngest ever, were voted to the US Congress. India, too, has the highest number...

-Outlook In the last five years, among the major parties, the BJP has given tickets to 47 candidates who are facing cases of crime against women while 35 and 24 such candidates were given ticket by BSP and Congress respectively. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed that out of 1580 MPs, MLAs with declared criminal cases, 48 are facing charges related to crimes against women, including rape charges. As per...