A workshop to explore the struggles of women writers brings to light the similar threads of censorship that run through many languages.

A recent report commissioned by the National Human Rights Commission finds that many children and women listing as 'missing' are in fact trafficked. Malvika Kaul reports.

The fleeting attention that is given to the rape of a girl in school hides the systematic harassment and violence that so many are subjected to - an important reason why girls drop out of the education system around the age of puberty. Deepti Priya Mehrotra reports.

How is older women's access to the city different from that of their younger counterparts? To our surprise, we found that older women's concerns were overlooked not just by city planners while conceptualizing public places, but also in the feminist and academic discourses on public spaces, writes Sonal Makhija.

Affluent Indians have found a way around the Centre's ban on pre-natal diagnostic tests for sex selection. Since the law only applies in India they simply travel overseas, to the US in particular, for their tests. And fertility clinics in India and the US have greatly streamlined the procedure. Gagandeep Kaur reports.

Among the steadily growing voices expressing their angst against discrimination, suppression and abuse of women, those of Indian feminist writers are fast gaining in pitch and range. Abha Sharma captures some of these.

A glimpse into the lives of women waste-pickers in Pune by Suchismita Pai.

Serious and rampant irregularities exposed by the CAG audit of the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008 hold important cautionary advice for the government as it seeks to launch direct cash transfers. Himanshu Upadhyaya analyses.

The India Together editorial.

For one-and-a-half lakh people, we have a committee of eight people to decide? Ramesh Ramanathan points to the irony of the allegedly empowered, but actually despairing urban citizen.

Ramesh Ramanathan

Baba Rampal is the most recent in a long line of Indian religious gurus who have hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Revathi Siva Kumar looks at a long list of Indian ‘godmen’ over the ages and tries to explain the influence they exert on a mesmerised flock.

India's share in international trade has increased from 0.7 percent to 1 percent, which is a remarkable achievement, some say. In the meantime, lakhs of farmers in Kerala are being adversely affected by reduction of import tariffs on edible oils, spices and other cash crops. Thomas Varghese delves deeper.

In Attapady block of Kerala's Palakkad district, illicit liquor is taking a heavy toll among the adviasis. Addiction to the brew has led to many deaths and suicides, even as a complacent and complicit administration looks on. M Suchitra reports.

Since Kerala and ASEAN countries both produce several similar items, competition from the latter is a cause of worry in the former. But the Centre has over-ridden the State's objections to the free trade agreement, writes Bhaskar Goswami.

Decades of struggle and innumerable sacrifices are involved in the long history of women's movement in India. Deepti Priya Mehrotra speaks to some of the exemplary leaders who recall the history of women’s movement and their role in it.

A moratorium on loan recoveries is supposed to bring distressed farmers a bit of relief. But in the Parakal region of Warangal district, the Andhra Pradesh government's directive has taken farmers from the fire to the frying pan, says one farmer. Kondal Rao has more.

Over the next two decades, Indians are going to see an enormous challenge to the value systems of the past, being replaced by the new value systems of globalisation says Ramesh Ramanathan.

Policies of privatisation and globalisation are changing not only economies but societies and cultures. At their core is the fight of ideas, and these will be expressed in words. What these words are, and what they mean, therefore, matters greatly, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

In India, other states look at Kerala's record of firsts with envy. Dr Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate, has hailed it as a model. But Kerala, caught in a web of paradoxes, is not what it seems, writes Ramesh Menon.

If we want to accelerate innovation in the marketplace and public squares of our society, we need also to invest more in design, writes Aditya Dev Sood.

The issue of parental authority to resort to corporeal punishment on children is a matter still hotly debated in large sections of our society writes Shankar Jaganathan.

Acute poverty linked to armed conflict and displacement is a major reason for the growing number of commercial sex workers in Manipur. Drug abuse too is common, further impacting those turning to the world's oldest profession. Thingnam Anjulika Samom reports.

For decades now the beautiful state of Manipur has been wracked by a violent insurgency and torn by the excesses of a draconian army. Anjali Nayar visits the state, bringing back poignant tales and the feeling of what it is like to live with fear.

The Budhan Theatre Group has become the nexus for a movement to change attitudes towards denotified tribes both within Ahmedabad's Chharanagar community and outside it.

Traditionally, India's dairy cooperative societies have been run by men, but this is gradually changing. Today, 18% of cooperative members are women, and nearly 2500 all-women cooperatives are functioning in the country. Sunanda Nehru Ganju reports from Gujarat, where new livelihoods for women are being established this way.

Following his earlier acclaimed films, Rakesh Sharma has released two new Gujarati documentaries earlier this month. The films -- Sharma has even used RTI to collect government data -- expose unsavoury truths about farmers suicides as well as lower-caste rioters now in prison. Shoma Chatterji reports.

Behind the concern for girls and women, some of it genuine, is both fear and a desire to control, says Kalpana Sharma.

The most flexible information dissemination medium ever invented can still be used for the betterment of all, says Subramaniam Vincent.

The NCW's protection for women is selective; it bypasses our dignity and preaches an inconsequential morality, says Kalpana Sharma

The Air India case on categorization of airhostesses illustrates how difficult it is to establish the principle of gender justice in employment, says Kalpana Sharma.
Dec 2003 update: Air India yields

The rash of suicides in city and village is a qualitatively new development in our history. Ramachandra Guha notes the contours of desperation in the two Indias - urban and rural.

A recent Oxfam report finds that women were, and are, disproportionately higher victims of the tsunami than men. While nature doesn't discriminate, says Kalpana Sharma, society certainly does, and such tragedies should remind us of this, or women will continue to remain invisible in suffering.

For her childish prank, domestic 'servant' Sonu was tortured, tied up and left to bleed to death. The police have rounded up her employers, but the story has not ended because it raises questions that all of us, educated, middle-class Indians need to face, writes Kalpana Sharma.

The All India Services Performance Appraisal Rules, 2007 reminds us that women's work is assessed not necessarily by neutral, objective criteria. The gender angle somehow creeps in, directly or indirectly, as IAS officers in Maharashtra can now testify, writes Kalpana Sharma.

For the sake of millions of voiceless women and marginalised groups, who were given a voice through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, it is important to challenge laws that attempt to take away grassroots participatory democracy as it has begun to evolve, writes Kalpana Sharma.

The association of the disenfranchised male with violence is manifest among all religions, and on both sides of the political spectrum. Ramachandra Guha looks at age, sex and class as factors in extremist violence in Bangalore and elsewhere.

Bigotry is increasing as there is no strong action against it. If greatly talented Indians cannot safely and honourably practice their craft in our shared homeland, there is little hope for the rest of us, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The Indian government has a responsibility to understand and respect the people who live on its peripheries; so do the citizens who live in states more keen to count themselves as part of India, writes Ramachandra Guha.

Politicians would like us to believe that tackling the Maoists now is urgent, while development is only possible in the long run. Not true, writes Ashwin Mahesh.

Would this Lokpal Bill have prevented the 2G scam, CWG scam, the NTRO scam, the CVC appointment or any of the recent embarrassments? The answer is a resounding no!, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

The relationship between the two major parties in Parliament has broken down completely. For this both parties are responsible, writes Ramachandra Guha.

Pope Francis’s Encyclical talks about poverty, social inequality, climate change, and other global crises mankind has created and proposes newer ways to resolve them. Ashish Kothari finds the Encyclical lacking in certain aspects but hopes that other religious and political leaders will learn to stand up and speak up like the Pope.

A multitude of grassroots movements are emerging across the country in resistance to the mainstream economy and polity. These initiatives are exploring sustainable, equitable and  just paths to human well-being. Ashish Kothari and Pallav Das offer an insight into the need for such movements.

A prerequisite of democracy is the democratization of communication, which in turn requires the empowerment of individuals.

It is not always the people vs. the state or the press vs. the state but sometimes also the people vs. the media, says Dasu Krishnamoorty.

Frederick Noronha reports on the success of World Comics India, which has created successful material, especially for the regional press.

The beating of media persons at Kozhikode's airport had its fallout all over Kerala. It has pitted the media against the state government. Several issues concerning rights and privacy need to be discussed, including some of the media’s own failings says N P Chekkutty.

Applying for and getting a license to set up a community radio station in India is convoluted. A new publication offers a step-by-step guide to the entire process along with useful information on how and what to prepare before applying.

Can technology restore the balance between people in their conversations about public issues? And can this help foster a better and more inclusive democracy, asks Shubhranshu Choudhary.