-The Hindustan Times Fatehabad: If women bodies are the epitome of liberation for the fairer sex, in many villages and hamlets of Haryana, women are increasingly shunning ghunghat (veil) and leading an example. Sushma Bhadu of Dhani Miyan Khan village in Fatehabad district not only fought to swagger among bête noires, but also took a pop at the centuries-old cultural tradition that dictates she be covered with a ghunghat in public places. A...

-The Times of India Despite the recent hype, one of the key drivers of women's empowerment — jobs for women — remains neglected and forgotten by policymakers. A recently released survey shows that more women are remaining home-bound doing domestic duties than a decade ago, even though a large number of them are willing to work. These are some of the findings of a report of the National Sample Survey Organisation...

-The Hindu Srinagar: ‘Why should you call it a conspiracy? If Dec 13 is a conspiracy, then entire Kashmir militancy is,” Afzal told Hizb chief Salahuddin through an Urdu weekly editor in 2008 Nearly five years before his execution at Delhi’s Tihar Jail for the December 13, 2001, terrorist strike on Parliament, Afzal Guru purportedly justified the attack in a letter to the editor of an Urdu weekly in Srinagar. Writing by hand,...

-The Indian Express Srinagar: Over a fortnight after Afzal Guru was hanged, an Urdu weekly here has published a letter purportedly written by the Parliament attack convict, in which he tells Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin not to be “ashamed of December 13”. The Parliament attack took place on December 13, 2001. While the weekly, Qaumi Waqar, claimed that its editor, Shabnum Qayoom, had received the letter through ordinary post three years ago,...

-The Times of India Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Tuesday announced many initiatives in his Rail Budget 2013 speech that will bring cheer to middle-income passengers. From better e-ticketing facilities to free wi-fi on select trains, the Railway Budget will lead to implementation of many passenger friendly measures. Here is a look at some of them: 1) e-ticketing through mobile phones. Project of SMS alerts to passengers providing updates on reservation status. In...