-Outlook   The UPA-II government spent nearly Rs 187 crore to publicise schemes under the 'Bharat Nirman' programme in the election year 2013-14. According to an RTI response by the Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity, the Manmohan Singh-led government spent Rs 186.98 crore in the election year 2013-14. Giving details of Bharat Nirman campaign of UPA-2, DAVP said in 2013-14, the election year, Rs 186.98 crore were spent whereas in 2012-13, the figure...

The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, also called the CSDS or informally, just the Centre, is a premier institute of India in the social sciences and humanities. The Centre provides a unique institutional space which seeks to nurture intellectual interests outside the entrenched boundaries of academic disciplines. This simultaneously gives the Centre a sense of intimacy with and distance from universities. Therefore, the Centre has deliberately chosen not...

-The Times of India There is finally an official count of the third gender in the country - 4.9 lakh. While transgender Activists estimate the numbers to be six to seven times higher, they are thrilled that such a large number of people identified themselves as belonging to the third gender, despite the fact that the census counting happened well before the Supreme Court order gave legal recognition to the third...

-The Hindustan Times   Chandigarh: The euphoria in the stock markets, after a strong mandate for Narendra Modi, hogs the national headlines. Unfortunately, the loud cries of wailing farm widows have been lost in the noise and clatter that follows. Isn't the continuing agrarian crisis the worst form of policy paralysis? There is a renewed spurt in the number of farm suicides across the country. My colleague Dr GV Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for...

-Al Jazeera   Activists and feminists seek implementation of law to check violence against women as new government is sworn in. New Delhi - Two days after Narendra Modi emerged victorious in India's national elections, Kiran battled the heat and crowd to see the man she had voted for in the ancient city of Varanasi. Modi, a leader of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, who took oath as the prime minister of India on...