-The Hindu Asara leaders say the media has not reported all decisions such as ban on dowry & compulsory schooling The leaders of the Samaj Sudhar Sabha in Asara village here, who recently ordered women to stop using mobile phones, have claimed that they had never imposed any “blanket ban” and only restrained them from using mobile phones while stepping out of their homes. However, the Sabha members did not backtrack on...

-The Times of India It was a rainy July evening ten years ago. A motley group of villagers from Sutia gathered at the local market to protest the spate of rapes that had left the area terrorized. They were angry but terrified of reprisal. And they did not know if anyone would join the fight. Speaking in hushed tones, they distributed leaflets asking people to join the protest. Some took the...

-The Telegraph A panel that approved NCERT textbooks in 2006 has expressed “dissatisfaction” at a review committee report suggesting 21 controversial cartoons should be deleted. The national monitoring committee (NMC), co-chaired by academics such as Mrinal Miri and G.P. Deshpande, had approved all new school textbooks in 2006. But a few cartoons in some political science textbooks had drawn criticism from politicians. The NCERT had then set up a committee under the Indian...

-The Hindustan Times Setting a precedent, over 150 khaps from different parts of Haryana held a maha panchayat in Bibipur on Saturday and resolved to wipe out female foeticide from the state. Women khap members also attended the panchayat. Several khap leaders including Sunil Jaglan, sarpanch of Bibipur, Om Prakash Mann, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Jaat Mahasabha, Dharampal Chhot, president of the All India Jaat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti, and Dr Attar...

-The Indian Express Enact a law to regulate assisted reproduction industry, protect donors and recipients The death of 17-year-old Sushma Pandey, an underage egg donor in Mumbai, has drawn attention to assisted reproduction, which has grown to the proportions of an industry but is not regulated by a legislative framework or competent institutions. While her death cannot be immediately linked to the fact that she was a donor, it must underline the...