-The Hindu Dalits in U.P. can now sell their land to non-Dalits Dalits in Uttar Pradesh would soon be able to sell their land to non-Dalits without the approval of the administration. This comes into being after Governor Ram Naik on Tuesday gave his consent to the Revenue Code (Amendment) Ordinance proposed by the Samajwadi government. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s Cabinet had passed the ordinance last month but the Governor had withheld approval. The...

-The Indian Express India's record is particularly distressing when it comes to representation of women in Parliament and their labour force participation. It is three years Wednesday, since the brutal Delhi gang-rape seared the country’s conscience. The outrage that followed led many to believe that this could be the catalyst that would BRIng about radical change in India’s endemic gender disparity. However, the recently-released Gender Inequality Index tells a sorry tale...

-Scroll.in The 45 houses of Ambedkar Nagar received no flood warning, no relief material and no visit from the authorities for a least a month. “For 36 days no one has come to check on us. Forget BRInging us things and giving us help – no one has even come to ask ‘how are you’ll doing?’, ‘are you’ll safe?’, ‘are you’ll alive?’” L Pavai was in tears as she spoke of...

-The Hindu Chennai: Completely unprepared for disasters: the hospitals in Chennai — private as well as government — were particularly vulnerable, improvising solutions as the situation developed. As water levels rose, Chennai saw every single system associated with modern life abysmally fail —houses collapsed, roads caved in, communication networks went down, sewage pipelines were wrecked, and carcasses floated on roads. Patients in government and private hospitals across the city took a beating. Completely...

-Civil Society Online Bhubaneswar: Laxman Goud, a 35-year-old farmer in Thakurpalli village in Komna block of Nuapada district of Odisha, used to lead a very simple life. He was a devoted follower of Mahima Dharma, a subaltern religion practised by underprivileged castes in Odisha. One morning, he took his life in desperation. He couldn’t repay Rs 19,000 he had borrowed from a local moneylender at 36 per cent interest. Goud had invested...