With one in three women around the world being beaten, coerced into sex or abused, more must be done to ensure the human rights of women, a member of the United Nations expert body monitoring compliance with the international pact on eliminating discrimination against women said today. “Significant progress has been achieved with respect to women’s human rights but we know that much more needs to be done throughout the whole...

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, the Ahmedabad-based Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) has announced its plans to pioneer an effort to protect RTI applicants against any perceived or real threat. The MAGP helplines: +919924085000 and 07926821553 (fax) will now take details of the applications, nature of threats, and addresses from such applicants and forward them, along with a complaint, to the concerned police...

Despite recording robust economic growth over the last couple of decades and spending thousands of crores of rupees on subsidising foodgrain and other programmes aimed at improving the nation’s social indicators, India ranks a low 67 among 84 countries on the Global Hunger Index, 2010. The country has actually dropped two levels since last year on the index published jointly by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe and Concern...

The Aadhaar or UID project has grave implications for every Indian. It will enable the government to profile every citizen and track their movements and transactions. There is no guarantee that intimate personal information -- pre-existing illnesses, romantic relationships etc -- won't be shared with other agencies, warns Praful Bidwai. An elaborate charade has begun with the rolling out of the first Aadhaar unique identity numbers in a tribal district of Maharashtra by...

Noted social activist Anna Hazare has decided to launch a 'jail bharo' agitation against the 'illegal decision of the state government to condone irregularities' in the Lavasa lake city project coming up near Pune. "The state government's decision to regularise irregularities in Lavasa project is akin to daylight robbery of tribals whose lands have been illegally acquired for the project," Hazare said. "As per law, land of tribals cannot be transferred. But...