-The Telegraph New Delhi: A 2012 law to protect children from sexual abuse is being used to target teen romance, a study of such cases in Delhi over the past three years suggests. The study by the National Law School, Bangalore, has shown that in 10 per cent of the cases filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the accused was in a relationship with the victim. In another...

-The India Express For the health, dignity and safety of women in slums, a comprehensive policy for the maintenance and construction of public toilets is needed. Living in a slum in Bandra West close to the railway station, Vijaya wakes up every morning to anxiety over the trek she and her daughter must take into the open, carrying water cans, to answer nature’s call. They could use the community toilet nearby, but...

-TheWire.in The minister suggested making prenatal sex determination mandatory for all pregnancies to avoid sex selective abortions. Doctors and women’s rights activists on what this will mean in practice. New Delhi: How do we improve the low status of Girl Children in India, or even ensure their existence and survival once the technologies that enable sex-selective abortion are widespread? On Monday, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi presented a...

-The Hindu Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi’s clarifications over her remarks on the existing ban on sex-selective abortions should put the focus back on the real issues. There are three aspects to the proposal that she put forth at a conference in Jaipur: establish the sex of the foetus when a pregnancy is detected; tell the mother about it and register the fact in public records; and...

-The Indian Express ICDS, the primary scheme targeting malnutrition, needs to be broadened with the help of the National Nutrition Mission. Every once in a while, a discussion or debate starts on malnutrition. On a debated issue, precision is desirable. Initially, there were several discussions on the word “malnutrition”, which can technically mean over-nutrition, as well as under-nutrition. But now, there is global consensus on three terms. First, for a given reference age,...