-The Indian Express Our reactions to the current protests triggered by the gangrape in the capital reveal a paradoxical state of mind. We welcome the spontaneous nature of these protests, underline the fact that most of the ordinary women and men who joined these protests were not mobilised by any organisation and caution against the entry of “political elements”. At the same time, we criticise the protesters for the lack of...

-The Hindustan Times Jaipur: Indian women are speaking out against violence, enraged by the gangrape of a 23-year-old inside a moving bus in Delhi. But past records show that women – especially in the hinterlands – who dare to speak up usually fight a lone battle against the system. Hindustan Times profiles a few courageous rape victims in Rajasthan, who are still awaiting justice. Bhanwari Devi (Bhateri, Jaipur district) Bhanwari Devi was gangraped in...

-The Times of India The Right to Education Act (RTE) mandates that every child has the fundamental right to free and compulsory elementary education in India. March 31, 2013, is the deadline set for full implementation of the Act. However, several challenges need to be overcome, especially to provide education for children in areas of conflict.  In the Indian context, three regions experience varying degrees of conflict - Maoist-affected areas, Jammu and...

-NDTV Manipur: At 4 pm on a sunny winter afternoon, a group of people are hard at work, trying literally to move mountains.   These are residents of Tamenlong district in Manipur; tired of years of being fobbed off by the government, they have decided to build for themselves a much needed main road to link the district to nearby towns of Assam and Nagaland. There are such few roads in this area that...

-The Telegraph The Union cabinet today approved a controversial drug pricing policy that had been opposed by the health ministry, the finance ministry and public health policy experts who fear it will legitimise high prices of medicines. A government source said the cabinet has cleared the drug pricing policy that health experts suspect will determine caps on prices of 348 drugs through a formula based on market prices of drugs rather than...