Women domestic workers and children narrated horrific stories of violence and abuse at a recent public hearing in New Delhi, co-organized by the National Commission for Women (NCW). Organizers aimed to raise public awareness. Teresa Barat reports.

The India Together editorial.

Possibly, but perhaps not alone. There are plenty of obstacles within our unjust and deeply hierarchical civil society outside of the media. Still, an important connection exists between journalism and the strengthening of civil society: citizenship. The India Together editorial.

In our system of government, elected representatives of the people make laws, as well as administer them. Although the constitution separates these roles well, in practice, we find that the lawmaking role is nearly always superceded by administrative preferences, and only limited benefits result from the legislative discourse. The India Together editorial.

Are they members of a Church without caste hierarchy, or are they still Dalits, with all that it implies in Hinduism? Dalit Christians find that despite being a numerical majority in the faith in India, the promise of equality is as distant as before. They're taking their protests to Parliament this winter, reports Padmalatha Ravi.

A quiet but steady revolution seems to be underway as both government and private individuals and organizations increasingly explore ways to make more data available to the people and in various innovative ways to facilitate application. Shamala Kittane reports.

If charitable giving in India is to rise to the next level, the social sector needs to take more serious note of donors' preference for active involvement in the use of donations, explains Shankar Jaganathan.

What's in a name? Apparently a lot in a country like ours, where even today regressive practices like identifying a person's caste by his or her surname or identifying a woman by her husband's name continue unabated, writes Navya P K.

Indra Chopra looks at the dowry custom cloaked within current-day marriages.

The national meet of the RSS women's wing witnessed an interesting exercise in the forging of a gender discourse that ostensibly moves away from the Sangh's patriarchal stance, but also visibly shies away from recognising the social and political dimensions of gender-related issues. Aparna Pallavi reports.

At a time when the position of women in India and their struggles in society are at the centre of public attention, it seems apt to invoke the legacy of one who was truly the pioneer of women's studies and activism in the country. Shoma A Chatterji pays tribute to Vina Mazumdar.

Widows in India have lived on the margins of society for decades but the intervention of NGO Sulabh International, led by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, has brought new hope and colour in their lives. Ramesh Menon reports on one of the first celebrations in their new-found lives.

Why is the struggle for women representatives so much harder at the national level? Is every effort merely a pretense, a concession to the few highly educated and aware women voters that ultimately means nothing to the great majority of others? Vaijayanti Gupta notes yet another opportunity thwarted.

Political differences notwithstanding, given the shared socio-cultural fabric, it makes sense for India to collaborate with her South Asian neighbours and look to them for solutions to common problems, writes Sakuntala Narasimhan.

The K N Panikkar committee recommended a change in a controversial chapter of a social sciences textbook that triggered violent agitation on the grounds that it promoted atheism and communism. P N Venugopal has more.

A recent Bombay HC ruling on the powers of the NCW, with regard to a case involving sexual harassment at the workplace, could have significant implications for gender justice in the long term. Revathi Siva Kumar looks at the facts of the case and the debate that it has stirred up. 

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.

Shivani Chaudhry

In trying to present themselves as democratic, respectable, and - most implausible of all - intellectual, the BJP allied themselves with the memory and legacy of a man they once bitterly opposed. Ramachandra Guha predicts a renaissance of rememberance of India's first Prime Minster.

Popular ideas of development and management of common resources should be revisited in light of this year's Economics Nobel Prize, given to Prof. Elinor Ostrom, writes Prakash Kashwan.

The inability of India to adequately provide for its own population no longer reflects a failure of implementation, but rather of a failure of innovation, writes Aditya Dev Sood.

An ongoing study of school textbooks in four states has found stereotypes and biases in Gujarat's textbooks. The Social Studies textbook for standard five has nine stories on mythology masquerading as history. Deepa A reports.

Tribal societies and groups belonging to the Scheduled Tribes in India are traditionally known to have been relatively gender-unbiased, but recent reports and statistics point to a deteriorating child sex ratio in these communities, too. Shambhu Ghatak analyses the findings.

At every turn, the Supreme Court has had two options, and always the justices leaned towards the unconvincing one, says Videh Upadhyay.

Contrary to many predictions a unified and democratic India still survives. Why? Ramachandra Guha continues his rememberance of the great patriots.

Sania is the star today, but there are many more waiting on the horizon, expecting to be noticed and determined to excel. Sania has forced the media, and the country, to sit up and take note. Sania and her "sisters" will not be stopped, says Kalpana Sharma.

A young Manipuri wrote to me recently: "I used to believe that media can really help ... But, how do we act when the media go silent?" India's northeastern States come into the news only when there is an election, an atrocity so huge that it cannot be ignored, or a natural disaster, writes Kalpana Sharma.

In their readiness to identify with the oppressed, Naxalites are in contrast to the bureaucrat, the politician and the police officer, but they are not revolutionaries, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The Annual Status of Education Report, 2009 points out yet again that what stands between rural girls and a good education is often basic facilities like transport and proper toilets, writes Kalpana Sharma.

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.

A media that cherishes its independence must recognize this freedom is as essential for the judiciary to deliver justice as it is for the media to observe it impartially, says Dasu Krishnamoorty

Lack of media concern for hunger and related issues makes it that much easier for the state to get away with doing nothing. An interview with Prof. Jean Dreze.

A paranoid government is getting ready to gingerly license 200 more FM frequencies when what is available is twenty times that number. An editorial from The Hoot.org

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.

The evidence of the pernicious influence of today's mass-media empires is overwhelming. But, lacking a historical consciousness that includes technology, modern India is thoroughly unprepared to tackle the excesses they promote, says Venkatesh R. Iyer.

Dasu Krishnamoorty cautions against equating the media with democracy itself.

New ideas and initiatives are emerging from the liaison between the press and the advertisers. Advertorials and advertising features are manifestations of this relationship, says Deepti Mahajan.

Significantly, the copy was less sensational than the headlines in almost all the papers, says Ammu Joseph.

How relevant is the argument of a threat to freedom of the press in cases where the financial interests of a media baron could ostensibly conflict with that of the public? The question resurfaced recently in Andhra Pradesh over the Eenadu-Margadarsi controversy, writes B P Sanjay.

With literacy levels increasing rapidly over the past decade, and more and more people having disposable incomes, the media's reach and influence is expanding. But has this expansion and power of media been translated into greater public good? This a haunting and troubling question, writes Jayaprakash Narayan.

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.

Is freedom of speech and expression deeply accepted in Indian society? Or is it merely a European cultural import that made its way along with the English language and appeared in the Constitution because of the founding fathers' genius? Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya reviews Freedom Song, a film and connects the dots.

Shoma Chatterji talks about caste and the portrayal of Dalit in Hindi cinema beginning with Bombay Talkies Achhut Kannya (1936) to Bimal Roy’s Sujata (1959) followed by many mainstream films, and the small-budget, low-key ones which have focused on this significant social issue in the past so many years.

The rural Muslim women of Murshidabad district in West Bengal have circumvented religious curbs and successfully used a prevalent religious tradition to eke out a living as well as create social awareness. Ajitha Menon has more.

Eleven years after journalist Rina Mukherjee was fired following her allegations of sexual harassment against a senior, the West Bengal Industrial Tribunal passes an order against The Statesman, offering hope of redress for other victims. Navya P K reports.

In West Bengal, girls are being empowered to refuse early marriage thanks to a state government initiative that enables them to stay longer in school. The Kanyashree Prakalpa scheme has been remarkably successful in curbing child marriage and promoting girl child education, says Saadia Azim.

Devinder Sharma points out the deeper flaws in the thinking behind Budget 2004-5.

Coronavirus lockdowns and travel restrictions have forced people around the world to delay their nuptials or adapt to the unusual times by celebrating via web link. But in China -- where livestreaming is extremely popular -- some young couples are allowing anyone to watch their big day and even send them gifts.

The US PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament will use radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in spectator badges to ensure fans maintain social distance at the July 16-19 event, Golf Digest reported Saturday.