-The Indian Express Why do women make better primary school teachers? If that question stumped many candidates who wrote the University Grants Commission's National Eligibility Test on Sunday, one of the multiple-choice answers listed for the question has outraged many. Because women "are available on lower salaries", said one of the four possible answers. About eight lakh candidates wrote the test across the country to qualify for junior research fellowships or university level...

-The Hindu Bangalore: The former Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar on Monday defended in the Legislative Assembly the announcement on supplying rice at Re.1 a kg to the Below Poverty Line families. Participating in the debate on the motion for thanking Governor H.R. Bhardwaj for his address to the members of both the Houses of the State legislature, he termed the "negative reaction" by the media as "inhuman." He said that the...

-PTI A top UN official has said that the violence against women is the "most pervasive" expression of gender-based discrimination and it remains unacceptably widespread. United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said, "Violence against women is the most pervasive expression of gender-based discrimination." She was speaking at the UN Human Rights Council during its annual full-day discussion on women's rights on Wednesday. "International developments have been mirrored by efforts at the national...

-The Hindu Violence against the state is tragic but it contains the seeds of rejection. Only an inclusive approach that respects human rights can eliminate extremism Perhaps no other chain of events in the recent past has had a more direct and substantial impact on the life of human beings across the world than acts of terror. Terrorism has not only affected our lives directly, but has also allowed the state to...

-The Times of India Vina Mazumdar, academic, activist and one of the pioneers of women's studies in India, passed away on May 30. Renowned anthropologist Joan Mencher pays her a tribute. Vina Mazumdar (1927-2013)-"Vinadi" to colleagues and friends-a veteran fighter for Indian women's rights and pioneer of feminist studies, passed away in Delhi on May 30, 2013. She had been ailing since March of this year. I first met her in the...