-The Hindu It has seen action on several occasions, starting in 1990 during the riots in Bijnor in western Uttar Pradesh The Durga Vahini or Durga brigade appeared in the early 1990s at the height of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement: its objective was to band together Hindu nationalism’s female “youth.” This organisation, like the Bajrang Dal, too, stresses defence — especially self-defence — of young Hindu women, including training in the use of...

-IANS LUCKNOW: With security often seen as a status symbol, the Uttar Pradesh government is spending a whopping Rs 120 crores of public money a year to provide security cover to around 1,500 VIPs of different hues, deploying as many as 2,913 police officials, officials records show. Inspector general of police (Law & Order) Badri Prasad Singh admitted that 1,476 VIPs (very important persons) were being given security based on "pre-emptive threat...

-New Age Asia’s ability to keep food prices in check and ensure long-term regional food security will require the region’s farm to market supply chains to become more efficient and cost-effective, says a new Asian Development Bank  study. The Study titled ‘The Quiet Revolution in Staple Food Value Chains: Enter the Dragon, the Elephant and the Tiger’, was produced by ADB and the International food Policy Research Institute in response to the...

-The Hindu Verma panel recommended fixing responsibility on superior officers The Centre has not accepted the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee regarding punishment to government servants, particularly police and army personnel, involved in acts of crime against women. The ordinance, cleared by the Union Cabinet on Friday, aims at making changes in various sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with crime against women. For instance, the three-member panel had suggested changes in...

-The Hindu Opposing the Centre’s decision to move an ordinance on criminal law amendments in respect of sexual violence, women’s organisations, civil society groups and women’s rights activists have appealed to President Pranab Mukherjee “not to sign” it. Arguing that virtually all suggestions of the Justice Verma Committee, hailed as signs of a paradigm shift in understanding violence against women, and all the recommendations that could strike at the heart of impunity...