-The Times of India There is finally an official count of the third gender in the country - 4.9 lakh. While transgender activists estimate the numbers to be six to seven times higher, they are thrilled that such a large number of people identified themselves as belonging to the third gender, despite the fact that the census counting happened well before the Supreme Court order gave legal recognition to the third...

Pratham is the largest non-governmental organization working to provide quality education to the underprivileged children of India. Pratham was established in 1994 to provide pre-school education to the children in the slums of Mumbai city. Since then, the organization has grown both in scope and geographical coverage. Today, Pratham reach out to millions of children living in both rural and urban areas through a range of interventions. All its programs are...

Samaj Pragati Sahayog (SPS) is one of India’s largest grass-roots initiatives for water and livelihood security, working with its partners on a million acres of land across 72 of India’s most backward districts, mainly in the central Indian Adivasi belt. SPS takes inspiration from the life and work of Baba Amte (our Pramukh Sahayogi) who rejected charity and successfully empowered even the most challenged. SPS is headquartered in a drought-prone,...

-The Hindustan Times   Chandigarh: The euphoria in the stock markets, after a strong mandate for Narendra Modi, hogs the national headlines. Unfortunately, the loud cries of wailing farm widows have been lost in the noise and clatter that follows. Isn't the continuing agrarian crisis the worst form of policy paralysis? There is a renewed spurt in the number of farm suicides across the country. My colleague Dr GV Ramanjaneyulu of the Centre for...

-Al Jazeera   Activists and feminists seek implementation of law to check violence against women as new government is sworn in. New Delhi - Two days after Narendra Modi emerged victorious in India's national elections, Kiran battled the heat and crowd to see the man she had voted for in the ancient city of Varanasi. Modi, a leader of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, who took oath as the prime minister of India on...