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Even though fair elections are held at regular intervals for State Assemblies and Parliament, they do not reflect the true consent of the people because a large number of women are missing from the electorate On her arrival in India recently, the words of Gloria Steinem, American feminist and leader of the women’s liberation movement, sounded like bells tolling for all women in today’s modern Indian society. “I came [to India] and what was here a half-a-century ago is still here… and yet there is everything else.” Studying data on the sex ratio in India over 60 years supports her grim observation. In this essay we provide a political economy explanation for the persistence of gender inequality in

News Services Division of All India Radio in its "Samayiki" programme brings to you a discussion on "Delhi Jan Lokpal videyak se Utpann Vivaad" It can be heard on

The Hindu World Squash Federation president N. Ramachandran, younger brother of BCCI chief N. Srinivasan, who has been elected unopposed as president of IOA seen representatives of IOC after the result was declared, in New Delhi on Sunday. Photo: Rajeev Bhatt The decks were cleared on Sunday for India’s return to the Olympic fold after a 14-month suspension with Indian Olympic Association conducting its polls with N Ramachandran being elected as the

A nude or semi-nude picture of a woman cannot be called obscene per se unless it is designed to excite sexual passion or reveal an overt sexual desire, the Supreme Court has held. Quashing a case against a newspaper for publishing a nude photo of German tennis legend Boris Becker with his fiancee in 1993, a bench of justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri said only those sex-related materials can be held to be obscene which have a tendency of exciting lustful thoughts.

The Hindu Indian and foreign naval vessels taking part in the passage exercise held in Andaman Sea on Sunday marking the closure of the ninth edition of Milan multi-naval interaction. Photo: Special Arrangement The ninth and the largest edition of the Milan series of naval engagements which saw the

India is exceptional among democracies in having no legal framework for its intelligence services, nor a system of oversight and accountability for covert operations. For the first time in the history of independent India, a high official of its intelligence services stands indicted for cold-blooded killing in the service of the Republic. Thursday’s Central Bureau of Investigation charge sheet against former Intelligence Bureau Special Director Rajinder Kumar and his subordinates for the alleged extra-judicial execution of Maharashtra residents Ishrat Jahan Raza

India on Saturday said it would go ahead with prosecuting the two Italian marines, accused of killing two fishermen, under a maritime security law that calls for a maximum punishment of 10-year jail. Plans earlier by India to invoke a section of the maritime security Act that provides for mandatory execution for causing death aroused fury in Rome. “Now, they will be tried under Section 3(1) A which does not carry any death penalty,” a Home Ministry spokesman told AFP. The new section carries a maximum 10-year term and a fine for acts of violence against any person on a ship. On Friday, the Home Ministry said it would not try the men under the maritime security Act, but revised its stand on Saturday and said the men would face lesser charges under a different section. The marines were accused of murder over the shooting deaths of two fishermen off the coast of Kerala while serving as security guards on an Italian-flagged cargo ship in February 2012. Massimiliano Latorre and Salvato

DMRC decides to spare centuries-old agraharam in Valiyasala street About 240 families living in the centuries-old agraharam in Valiyasala street can now sleep peacefully as it has been decided to spare the homesteads when the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) is laid from Technocity to Karamana in the capital.

World Islamic Tamil Conference with the objective of creating greater awareness of the contributions of Muslims to the promotion of Tamil literature and to record and recognise their contribution to the promotion of an indigenous Tamil musical tradition, the Islamic Literary Society, Chennai, has

Taking his fight for the Jan Lokpal Bill to the Centre, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday shot off a letter to Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, seeking the withdrawal of a notification that makes sanction of the Lieutenant-Governor a requirement for introducing a Bill in the Delhi Assembly.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday approved radical reform plans aimed at bringing about improved governance. The proposals were passed at the Executive Board meeting here after they gained the support of eight of the ICC’s 10 full members. As per the resolution passed at the meeting, BCCI president N. Srinivasan will chair the ICC Board

Amendments to be incorporated in older draft Rushing to fulfil the commitment of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the government on Friday tabled in the Rajya Sabha an older version of the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 as the amendments approved by the Union Cabinet late on Thursday night could not be printed on time.

The government could recompense retail investors by selling its shares in SUUTI exclusively to them. Retail investors will get to own some blue chips, and the capital market will get some depth. The Special Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI, for short), formed specifically to take over the regular income schemes of the Unit Trust of India, has been in the news recently. Reversing an