-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Amid growing public outrage over the Kathua and Unnao incidents, a collective of retired civil servants has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling the current situation a “moment of existential crisis” in which the government’s response would determine whether the nation could “overcome the crisis of constitutional values, of governance and the ethical order”. In a strongly worded letter that sought to pin the blame...

-Hindustan Times Many face backlash and are boycotted from their communities for marrying outside their caste. With the social boycott bill, that came into effect last July, there is hope for the victims. Pune: On a cloudy Thursday morning in January, 1990, in Pune’s Cantt area, Umesh and Manju walked out of their homes separately — anxious and excited. After a month of waiting, the court had given them a date...

-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy Menstrual hygiene, an essential building block of a woman’s health, suffers wanton neglect in India’s public discourse. Though public policies are in place, the progress made by India’s government, private, and civil society sectors is not in sync with the nation’s aspiration to be a global economic superpower. R. Sujatha, consultant on gender issues, and R. Gopinath, development economist, critique the steps taken,...

-The Hindu Business Line Eleven years since its inception, the State’s farmer’s debt relief commission has quietly eased the burden of debt on poor farmers, and grown to be a model worth emulating Earlier this week 35,000 debt-ridden farmers coursed through Maharashtra, walking 180 km on blistered soles, to converge at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan demanding freedom from debt and fair compensation for their produce. As the government scrounged for solutions, it could’ve...

-TheThirdPole.net Women farmers are struggling to grow crops in an increasingly hostile environment in north-east India It is that time of the year when the weather is dry and windy. Hmuoki has to work even harder than usual to water and fertilize her four acres of farmland on the banks of the Khuga River in Churachandpur district of Manipur, north-east India. Hmuoki struggles to ensure her family has enough food to eat during...