-The New York Times   India has 1.2 billion people, among them bankers, gurus, rag pickers, billionaires, snake charmers, software engineers, lentil farmers, rickshaw drivers, Maoist rebels, Bollywood movie stars and Vedic scholars, to name a few. Humanity runneth over. Except in one profession: India is searching for a hangman. Usually, India would not need one, given the rarity of executions. The last was in 2004. But in May, India's president unexpectedly rejected...

-The Hindustan Times   Female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking make India the world's 4th most dangerous country for women, with Afghanistan's violence and poverty taking it to the top spot, followed by Congo due to horrific levels of rape, a Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll said on Wednesday. Pakistan and Somalia ranked third and fifth, respectively, in the global survey of perceptions of threats ranging from domestic abuse and economic discrimination...

Civil society” has dominated popular discussion for the last few months. It may be hard to recall how rare the use of the term was only some years back. In 2002, when I published a book analysing the role of civil society in preventing, dampening or inciting communal riots, I was asked in a television interview whether I was overstating the power of civil society vis-à-vis the state. And in...

-IANS   A day after the Congress slammed civil society campaigners as "unelected tyrants", veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare on Tuesday said people were the masters of the country having all the rights to question their servants over their functioning. Talking to reporters here, Anna Hazare said the value of parliament could not be denied but people must be consulted before taking decisions. "Parliament is a big thing, but bigger than parliament at the...

-PTI   Amid a war of words between government and civil society members over Lok Pal Bill, both sides will meet here tomorrow for its drafting even as Anna Hazare today reminded the ministers that differences could be resolved through dialogue and not through confrontation. As the government and Congress continued its Attack on the civil society members, Hazare said he cannot force anyone not to level allegations like he was a...