-The Hindu Over a fifth of non-agricultural workers in India commute to work on foot, followed by commutes by cycle, moped or motorcycle and bus, new data from the Census shows. Fewer than three per cent take cars or vans, and over half travel less than five kilometres. On Thursday, the office of the Registrar General of India released data on commutes for the 200 million working Indians who are neither...

-IPSNews.net DHARNI (Maharashtra): In the semi-darkness of her hut in Berdaballa, a forest village 610 km northeast of Mumbai, 28-year old Babita Mavaskar sat with her newborn baby boy watching him checked by a paramedic in an important antenatal exam. After about 20 minutes the health worker emerged from the shelter and made a big announcement, “All is well. Everything, the weight, temperature and height … is normal.” The small crowd of...

-The Indian Express Bihar’s female literacy rate, at 53.33 per cent as per the 2011 Census, is the second lowest after Rajasthan’s 52.66 per cent. Did women help win this election for the Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance? While that awaits an analysis, the fact is more women cast their votes in this assembly election than ever before in Bihar’s history. And this, despite the state’s dismal record when it comes to...

-The Indian Express My mother does not work”. In country after country, this expression is heard each time someone describes a woman not engaged in paid employment. A recent study by McKinsey, titled “The Power of Parity: How equality for women could drive $ 2 trillion in global growth”, has evidence that every “stay-at-home” woman directly damages a country’s GDP by billions. Its message is that every woman should “work”; India’s...

-The Times of India GUWAHATI: Mizoram and Meghalaya are the two states in the country with the least gender gap, according to McKinsey Global Institute's (MGI) "The Power of Parity: Advancing Women Equality in India" report. The gender parity in the two northeastern states, along with that of Kerala, Goa, and Sikkim, are roughly in line with that of Argentina, China, or Indonesia, the report says. In contrast, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,...