-Frontline There is growing violence against women and children in Haryana, aided by the apparent collusion between the State government and the upper-caste-dominated khap panchayats. THE road leading to Dabra village in Haryana’s Hisar district is not very difficult to locate. It was at Dabra, a mere 15 kilometres from the district headquarters, that a heinous crime was committed on September 9. It would have gone unnoticed had it not been accompanied...

-The Times of India If you have a domestic help below the age of 14 years, then the authorities may soon visit your house and send her to school. The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the central and state governments to conduct a countrywide drive to identify children below 14 years engaged as domestic helps and send them to school to fulfill the mandate of the Right to Education Act for their...

-The Hindustan Times Around 20 children go missing in Delhi every day. Around eight of them — or 40%   — are never seen again, Delhi Police records show. According to police statistics, 1,153 children went missing between July 16 and September 15 this year, approximately half of them trapped by traffickers. While 688 children were found, 465 remain untraceable. Many of the victims are infants. Police said many of the children were...

-Mainstream Weekly Intense and motivated propaganda, powerful national and international diplomatic pressure, verging on pure and simple arms-twisting of the kind the Third World has been facing for decades by means of the active role of the econo-mic hit-men in the policy establishments, huge cash-back lobbying, both in India and abroad, blunt attempts to bamboozle the persons holding key positions in India’s policy establishment through a combination of hissing and kissing...

-The Indian Express Ten kilometres from Jodhpur city, on a sultry afternoon under a flapping tent, a baby girl is born to Sadhu and Radha. People crowd around and peer into the tent to congratulate the couple. Someone in the crowd says, “The first Indian among us, she should be named Bharati.” The suggestion is met with nods of approval and cheers of “Bharati”. Over the last one month, the makeshift tent...