-The Hindu West Bengal: A unique initiative involving the West Bengal Health Department and a non-government organisation here on Monday has brought hope to mentally ill patients of Kolkata's Pavlov Hospital. Ostracized by society and abandoned by their family members, patients of the biggest mental health facility in West Bengal can now dream of financial independence and a life beyond the confines of the hospital. A memorandum of understanding for Dhobhi Ghar,...

-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: For a long time, 12- year-old Rohan, an HIV positive child, was in pain but could not comprehend why. For months, he passed blood with his stools. Finally, a counsellor drew a sketch after Rohan pointed to his mouth and back and the truth emerged: He was regularly being forced into oral and anal sex. Rohan then drew a picture of Ashish, one of his co-Inmates at...

-The Hindu Over 3,000 of the 2.8 lakh have been behind bars for more than five years Two of every three persons incarcerated in India have not yet been convicted of any crime, and Muslims are over-represented among such undertrials, new official data show. Despite repeated Supreme Court orders on the rights of undertrials, the jails are filling ever faster with them, shows Prisons Statistics for 2013 released by the National Crime Records...

-Outlook New Delhi: In an effort to empower the women Inmates of Delhi's Tihar jail, an e-Library has been set up in its premises which would cater only to them. Director General (Delhi Prisons) Alok Verma inaugurated the e-library in the presence of former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and other senior officials yesterday. "E-learning will not just help these women to read and learn but also make them get used to computer...

India has witnessed many fiery debates on poverty estimates. Equally contentious has been the issue of inequality. Now a new report on exclusion offers a fresh perspective on poverty, inequality and social justice. (See below a summary of the report) Based on data and knowledge resources available in the public domain, India Exclusion Report 2013-14 highlights the systematic discrimination faced by women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Muslims, persons with...