-The Indian Express Bihar’s female literacy rate, at 53.33 per cent as per the 2011 Census, is the second lowest after Rajasthan’s 52.66 per cent. Did women help win this election for the Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance? While that awaits an analysis, the fact is more women cast their votes in this assembly election than ever before in Bihar’s history. And this, despite the state’s dismal record when it comes to...
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Slums and the story of India's housing crisis -Avikal Somvanshi
-Down to Earth The rate at which informal housing is being destroyed probably far exceeds the rate at which formal housing is being constructed Troubled by the degradation of environment on and around railway tracks, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently directed Delhi government to relocate all illegal settlements along tracks in Delhi. The tribunal reasoned that the residents of these settlements practise open defecation and litter on the tracks. Housing of the...
More »The Work Women Do -Amrita Nandy & Rohini Hensman
-The Indian Express My mother does not work”. In country after country, this expression is heard each time someone describes a woman not engaged in paid employment. A recent study by McKinsey, titled “The Power of Parity: How equality for women could drive $ 2 trillion in global growth”, has evidence that every “stay-at-home” woman directly damages a country’s GDP by billions. Its message is that every woman should “work”; India’s...
More »SC to examine Muslim personal law, aim to end gender bias -Bhadra Sinha
-Hindustan Times The Supreme Court has decided to examine Islamic personal law to consider doing away with provisions biased against Muslim women, often victims of polygamy and the triple talaq system, a controversial move that may upset a section of the community that has resisted reform. A bench of justices AR Dave and AK Goel requested Chief Justice of India HL Dattu to constitute an appropriate bench and address the issue to...
More »Dr Imrana Qadeer, public health scholar and professor at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health (JNU), speaks to Poornima Joshi
-The Hindu Business Line How the Indian State metamorphosed from protector of the poor to facilitator of the private health industry If there is correlation between two incidents of the Central Government announcing cuts in the health budget and dengue patients being refused treatment in Delhi’s private hospitals, it is rarely discussed in the ongoing media debate on the subject. A new collection of researched essays edited by public health scholar Imrana...
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