-Press release by Every Woman Treaty dated September 30, 2022 Every Woman, a coalition of more than 1,700 women's rights advocates in 128 countries, including India, has developed the findings-based draft instrument (Zero Draft EWT), informed by extensive consultation with experts from all regions of the world, including survivors, frontline activists, medical specialists, practitioners, scholars, human rights attorneys, and policy-makers. This Draft of global binding norm focuses on violence prevention and...

-Press release by by Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA-Kisan Swaraj) and the Right To Food Campaign (RTFC) dated June 20, 2022 Raipur/ New Delhi: Activists of Right to Food Campaign (RTFC) and Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) urged the Chhattisgarh government to abandon its rice fortification interventions. They appealed to the state government that it should not get coerced into distributing fortified rice in the food schemes...

-The Hindu The apex court says police should neither interfere nor take criminal action against adult and consenting sex workers In a significant order recognising sex work as a “profession” whose practitioners are entitled to dignity and equal protection under law, the Supreme Court has directed that police should neither interfere nor take criminal action against adult and consenting sex workers. “It need not be gainsaid that notwithstanding the profession, every individual in...

-The Hindu Challenges abound in this approach, which needs to be analysed in depth before a policy is announced The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently announced that it will do away with the mandatory PhD qualification to teach in Central Universities (CUs) spread across the country. It purportedly addresses a shortage of qualified faculty in CUs. According to the Ministry of Education data, there were 10,000 teaching positions lying vacant in...

-Newsclick.in The high healthcare costs were expected to be addressed through the introduction of health insurance by the Union government, but it covers less than 30% of hospital charges leaving a heavy financial burden on the poor. Health outcomes have remained grossly unequal, with India's dalits and adivasis living shorter lives of poorer quality, as per a recent paper published by Oxfam India. Private infrastructure now accounts for nearly 62% of India's...