-Deccan Herald Rights activists led by Aruna Roy on Monday demanded that the proposed Whistleblowers Protection Bill and the Grievance Redressal Bill be made more stringent. At a public debate involving intellectuals and MPs, the activists suggested that both the Bills, pending in Parliament, should be amended. The Whistleblowers Bill has been passed by Lok Sabha and is awaiting Rajya Sabha nod, while the Grievance Redressal Bill is still in Lok Sabha. National Campaign...

-The Hindu Stereotypical government policies and global approaches persist in family planning programmes. Urmila is a 40-year-old domestic worker in western Uttar Pradesh. The mother of six children, all girls, she is now pregnant again and is keen on carrying on with the pregnancy. Her husband is unemployed and is an alcoholic. His relatives have assured her that they will help her to bring up the child and have also hinted...

-The Hindu The debate on the pros and cons of genetically engineered/modified crops is universal. In India, in the face of vociferous protests, the controversy has only deepened leading to a moratorium on cultivation of Bt Brinjal crop — the first GM food crop sought to be commercialised. Gargi Parsai spoke to Basudeb Acharia, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, on its new report, “Cultivation of Genetically Modified Food...

-The Hindu Rajesh Khanna may have immortalised a few lines that are easily recalled by everyone — “Pushpa, I hate tears” — but he will certainly not be remembered for his political speeches. Yet, one particular speech stands out in my memory. It was reported in the papers and it has stayed in my memory even though years have passed. In the speech, made in Calcutta during the 1989 general elections when...

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen believes that Team Anna's reading of corruption or what causes corruption or how it can removed is wrong, and that they need to look at how the economic system operates.   In an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen said that instead of fasting and protesting, one should try and change the systems that provided incentives for corruption. Below is the transcript of...