Keyword : Society

A letter to the Kota girl

Dear Beta, I am sorry for pushing you to death. In fact, I have to apologise to you for many things: • Each time you showed me your mark-sheet, I got angry and le

Why Indian women are under-nourished

Girls getting less food than boys was always considered a societal stereotype in India. A study has shown that it is unfortunately true. It has also highlighted a key deficiency in our policy appro

Prohibition, Amma’s new-term resolution, is facing diminishing will power

As the new government in Tamil Nadu completes its first month, it has taken a first step towards fulfilling one of its key election promises: prohibition. But the way it is moving forward, activist

How dare you trivialise rape?

It is outrageous that rape and rape survivors are being taken so lightly. It is as if rape has been turned into some kind of a flippant drawing room conversation and we have stooped so low as to de

Won’t cow down to cow-protectors

How can people divided into thousands of castes be a nation?” This was a basic question raised by Dr BR Ambedkar during the freedom struggle. According to him, without annihilation of caste,

"If PM had expelled Telangana MLA, that would have sent a stronger message"

Dalit atrocity in Gujarat has highlighted the plight of people fighting with the social stigma even after seven decades of independence. In an interview with Jasleen Kaur

Trapped in the shadows

Meena, a solemn, raspy-voiced woman in a black salwar-kameez, is gyrating to a Bollywood number with gusto. The vivid range of her expressions counterpoints her lanky frame. Life is limping back to

Come visit my home, be my guest

After massive participation in the #NotInMyName campaign initiated by filmmaker Saba Dewan – a peaceful protest against rising communal hatred in the country, another campaign along similar

How quota helped me become what I am

The memories of the day are still intact in my mind when my brother Subhash sacrificed his savings to pay my school fees. Instead of buying shoes, he wore casual slippers in the scorching summer he

“Young dalit leaders have age, situation on their side”

How do you see the rise of the Bhim Army in Uttar Pradesh?   During the last assembly elections in UP, it was a common consensus among many [dalit leader

Across the threshold

As Zahida Shabnam, a history professor and a television anchor, stepped into one of the ghettoes of the Gadiya Lohar community in Jaipur on a sunny Saturday recently, the women there did not seem t

The long road to separation

It is 10.15 in the morning, and 33-year-old Surabhi is standing inside the court room on the groundfloor of the sub court, Poonamallee, a northwestern neighbourhood of Chennai. It’s is the fi

The wolf and the lamb

At no other moment in the history of Indian national life after Independence the dalits are as oppressed as this moment: dalits are set ablaze, slaughtered like animals on the slaughtering bench of

SC bars triple talaq for 6 months, wants legislation

The supreme court on Tuesday struck down triple talaq for six months and asked the government to come out with a legislation on it, a verdict that is going to impact over 180 million Muslims in t

Triple talaq verdict historic, says Modi

Prime minister Narendra Modi described as “historic” the supreme court judgment that struck down triple talaq for a period of six months.   “Judgmen

5 judges, 5 faiths, 1 verdict

Five judges from five different faiths deliberated upon and decided that instant triple talaq is to be struck down for a period of six months and the government should bring a legislation over it

Political parties support triple talaq verdict

The BJP as well as the Congress welcomed the supreme court judgment that bars instant triple talaq for a period of six months and also seeks a legislation on it.   BJ

“The talaq verdict is just a beginning…”

The supreme court has held the practice of triple talaq as unconstitutional. This takes us back to the Shah Bano case and the question of reforming the Muslim personal law. Had it not been

Women who fought it out

Instant triple talaq – which the supreme court banned recently, while asking the government to legislate against the decadent practice – is something Muslim women had no doubt wanted to

Her many wounds

In the past two months, two girls have faced unspeakable violence. In January, a Dalit schoolgirl in Haryana was gang-raped and murdered. In Jharkand in February, a 15-year-old girl was raped and b

If you’re happy and you know it...

Finland has emerged as the world’s happiest country, as per the World Happiness Report 2018. The report has ranked 156 countries by their happiness levels, and 117 countries by the happiness

A campaign sans vision and road map

The just-concluded assembly election in the southern state of Karnataka has demonstrated the power, reach, and influence of social media. Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter are proving to be effective

India needs to do much more for its children to keep its SDG promises

The fact that the World Day against Child Labour is still marking our calendars is itself disturbing. The World Day for Safety and Health at Work also happens to be on the same day and no other eve

Rajasthan girl Payal Jangid wins Changemaker Award

Payal Jangid, a teenager from Rajasthan, has become the first recipient of the Changemaker Award at the Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards. This was in recognition of her campaign to end child labour

Why the abortion law needs to be amended

Since the enactment of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, women in India have been legally allowed to terminate unwanted pregnancies. The Act sets a threshold of 12 weeks, based on the

Women’s panel seeks CJI intervention over rape-murder convict’s penalty

The Maharashtra State Commission for Women has urged the chief justice of India to take suo moto action in the matter of the Bombay high court converting to life imprisonment the death sentence of

PM to youth: with new decade, your time has come

The new year and the decade will be the time when India’s millennials will start contributing to the nation, Prime minister Narendra Modi has said in the outgoing year’s last broadcast

Violence never resolves any issue: Modi

Urging all who have taken the path of violence for their political campaigns to shun it and return to the mainstream, prime minister Narendra Modi has said that weapons cannot achieve lasting peace

Union Budget 2020-21: Central tenet is Ease of Living

“Our prime minister has laid before us ‘Ease of Living’ as a goal to be achieved on behalf of all citizens,” said minister for finance Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting th

Let us recall the makers of a nation

The targeted attacks in recent times, both verbal and physical, against selected groups of people have become the subject of worry for all right-thinking citizens. The attacks emanate from strident

An anthropologist on moral life in a Delhi colony

Textures of the Ordinary: Doing Anthropology After Wittgenstein By Veena Das Orient BlackSwan, 410 pages, Rs 1,350 Veena Das, a well-know

I owe much in my life to writing: Rajesh Talwar

Rajesh Talwar’s new fiction, ‘How to Kill a Billionaire’, explores crime, law and redemption in a deeply flawed world. It’s a story of a billionaire’s son going mi

Maharashtra prevents 790 child marriages during pandemic

Maharashtra has been successful in preventing 790 child marriages during the Covid-19 pandemic. Building on that success, women and child development minister Yashomati Thakur has launched a state-

V shape recovery an exaggeration: Gurcharan Das

The notion of a V-shape economic recovery is an exaggeration, and the informal economy and the poor have been terribly hurt during the Covid-19 period, says Gurcharan Das, author, commentator and p

Mumbai to draft policy for homeless

On the occasion of World Homeless Day, BMC has announced that it is formulating a policy for the urban homeless for which it will start a survey soon. The policy will include efforts to provide tem

A deeply felt meditation on girlhood

GIRLHOOD By Melissa Febos Bloomsbury / 336 pages Melissa Febos wowed readers and critics with her ‘Whip Smart: A Memoir’ (2010). I

How Homo Sapiens urbanised in the blink of an evolutionary eye

Work: A History of How We Spend Our Time By James Suzman Bloomsbury, 464 pages

Raising the minimum age of marriage for women is welcome, but...

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. The proposal seeks to increase the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21, bringing it at par with

How to raise a gender-sensitive generation

Awakening the Rainmaker: A Guide to Gender Equality

‘Apply Prohibition of Child Marriage Act to Muslim girls too’

The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), an autonomous, rights-based organisation working for the reform of Muslim Family Law for the last 15 years, has called for making the Prohibition of Chil

Vote for Good Governance, vote for those who care for your life and livelihood

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) compiles an annual  ranking of countries based on an index comprising of health, education, and income. For the year 2020, for which data has be

Maharashtra to provide Rs 468Cr for WCD schemes from DPDC

The Maharashtra government has approved provision of 3% funds under the District Annual Plan for empowerment of women and children in every district through the Department of Women and Child Develo

Two Indias: One for the billionaires, one struggling for minimum wages

Oxfam India has this week released ‘India Supplement 2022’ with deserving caption ‘inequality kills’. The supplement discusses India’s governance structures that promo

Cast your vote, not vote for caste

Once the schedule for the next assembly elections has been announced, there is a flurry of activity around building caste coalitions. This is more intense in the most populous state,  Uttar Pr

Teen Choto Chamuch

Nautanki Saala and Other Stories

What the PEW report tells us about gender attitudes in India

The PEW Research Center released a report on the Indian attitudes towards gender roles, at home and at society at large. The findings are based on a survey of around 30,000 people conducted in 2019

To improve India’s happiness ranking, learn from the states

The World Happiness Report 2022 ranks India at 136th position, or tenth from the bottom of the list. Among 146 countries, Finland tops the list, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Nethe

How did a joke on Jada turn into a Will-Chris event?

I remember in 2013, the highlight of the Oscar ceremony was the accidental fall of Jennifer Lawrence, as she was climbing the steps to receive an award. What was remarkable was the way she gracious

Volcano has erupted with `The Kashmir Files`: Ashoke Pandit

Filmmaker and social activist Ashok Pandit has said that the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus was known to everyone for over 32 years, but political leaders, political parties and celebrities refused to

Why do we celebrate the Navaratri festival?

Hindus are celebrating the Navaratri festival these days. Known

Leveraging International Institutions to Address Casteism: The case of Ambedkar

During this Dalit History month, on the birth anniversary of Dr B.R.

How to make elections more meaningful

The Power of the Ballot: Travail and Triumph in the Elections

Sardar Patel and the making of a new India: A diamond tycoon reminisces

Diamonds Are Forever, So Are Morals: Autobiography of

Women in workforce: Despite policy support, why it is declining

Michelle Obama once said, “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens.” That should be

Growing Up as a Multilinguist

Being and Becoming Multilingual: Some Narratives

Good Government Index 2022: Miles to go before we sleep?

The Singapore-based Chandler Institute of Governance recently released its Good Government Index 2022. The Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI) measures Government capabilities and outcomes across

70% of India’s elderly depend on family or pension for day-to-day maintenance: HelpAge Report

About 70% of the elderly population is not working and depends on their family or pension for the day to-day maintenance, finds HelpAge India’s latest national report, `Bridge the Gap: Unders

Spotting and nurturing young talent, helping them bloom

Things don’t turn up in this world, as former US president James A. Garfield once said, until someone turns them up. This is all the more so, when one considers the hidden gems that are waiti

Why K.R. Meera’s ‘Jezebel’ is not exactly a ‘good bad book’

Jezebel By K.R. Meera (Translated from the Malayalam by Abhirami Girija Sriram and K.S. Bijukumar) Hamish Hamilton, 400 pages, Rs 599 &

Azim Premji: An ‘Iconic Indian’ who is extraordinary businessman, philanthropist

Iconic Indians: 75 Extraordinary Individuals Who Inspired the Country By Sanjeev Sanyal and Rajesh Singh Rupa Publications, 360 pages, Rs 695  

What it means to grow up with adversity and thrive

When We Thrive, Our World Thrives: Stories of Young People Growing Up With Adversity By Dr. Connie K. Chung with Vishal Talreja Notion Press, 311 pages, Rs

How to execute large-scale social impact projects

The number of social innovators and entrepreneurs has considerably increased recently in India. The idea of social entrepreneurship, which aspires to provide novel solutions for the world`s most cr

The changing nature of CSR in India

With the advent of globalization came a new set of challenges for corporations, notably the duty of ensuring the well-being of all stakeholders while also protecting the planet`s natural environmen

Samanvaya —an Integral Part of Hindutva

Aravindan Neelakandan has come out with a new work, ‘Hindutva: Origin, Evolution, and Future’ (Kali Imprint; BluOne Ink), which promises to be a must-read for understanding Hindutva

‘Chhello Show’: The show that mirrors an aspirational India

Indian cinema is the largest national film industry in terms of the number of films produced (2,446 feature films annually as of 2019). The United States cinema (also called Hollywood) is the oldes

India Inc. is now looking at CSR through a new lens

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown concurrently and risen to enormous prominence in recent years. Initially, business owners started CSR by making charitable donations in an unstructur

Is India equipped to deal with population bulge?

India is projected to surpass China in terms of population in 2023, becoming the most populous country in the world, according to the United Nations. More than half of India’s population is u

What makes Sundargarh the cradle of hockey in India

Neha Lakra, 20, doesn’t forget to practise hockey, at least for four hours, every day. Whether at home or at the Panposh sports hostel in Rourkela where she is training under the guidance of

How Jain values lead us to the path of inner peace

What is ahimsa or non-violence? Is it only an absence of violence or is it something more? Is ahimsa even possible in today’s world? How does one interpret the meaning of war from the lens of

Women’s Day Reading: “You are like a son to me”

Lies Our Mother Told Us: The Indian Woman’s Burden By Nilanjana Bhowmick Aleph Book Company / 272 pages / Rs 699

Women’s Day Reading, for men and women: On helping around at home

My Subconsciously Feminist Father By Yashika Singla Aleph Book Company, 176 pages, Rs 499   My Subconsciously Feminist Father ima

The importance of Governance in ESG paradigm

The journey of ESG is a bridge from ‘qualitative change’ to a ‘measurable value’. ESG is the consideration of E-S-and-G non-financial issues, alongside financial factors, wh

How to read Ambedkar’s “Annihilation of Caste”

UNDERSTANDING B.R. AMBEDKAR’S “ANNIHILATION OF CASTE” By Sayed Sayeed Permanent Black, 252 pages, Rs 595.00 A just-rele

What it means to be a citizen

Where the Madness Lies: Citizen Accounts of Identity and Nationalism By Kishalay Bhattacharjee Orient BlackSwan, 304 pages, Rs 950, The idea o

Rama beyond Ramayana: Stories from other sources

Untold Stories of Ramayana By Gaurang Damani 194 pages, Rs 300

Gandhi’s Triumph over the Fear of Death

The Essential U. R. Ananthamurthy Edited by N. Manu Chakravarthy and Chandan Gowda Aleph Books, Rs 899, 312 pages

Elderly women face discrimination, abuse: HelpAge India report

As many as 16% older women in India faced abuse, out of which half (50%) faced physical abuse. Disrespect (46%) as well as emotional and psychological abuse (40%) are the other abuses faced by olde

Artificial Intelligence: Taming the Tiger

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is intrinsic to our day-to-day lives today. It helps access our phones or a place through face recognition. When Facebook suggests friends or Netflix recommends what to

The casebook of a ghost hunter

Ghost Hunter Gaurav Tiwari: The Life and Legacy of India’s Foremost Paranormal Investigator By Abhirup Dhar and Indian Paranormal Society Rupa, 272 pa

Is social entrepreneurship the right career for you?

Social entrepreneurship is rapidly gaining momentum in India as a powerful force for positive change. With a growing number of individuals stepping up to address pressing social issues, social entr

No country for women? Derek O`Brien asks

Who Cares About Parliament: Speaking Up to Protect India’s Great Institution By Derek O’Brien Rupa / 224 pages / Rs 395

Why Amartya Sen believes development is embedded in democratic politics

The Indian Village: Rural Lives in the 21st Century By Surinder S. Jodhka Aleph, 296 pages, Rs 799

Diamonds are Forever: A Saturday story

Saturday Stories By Rashmi Bansal HarperCollins, 176 pages, Rs 250

The Effect of Mindfulness Practice on Adolescents: A Pilot Study

[On the occasion of the International Stress Awareness Week, Oct 30-Nov 3, Governance Now had carried an excerpt from a study on

A portrait of Dom community opens a world not seen by many

Fire on the Ganges: Life among the Dead in Banaras By Radhika Iyengar 4th Estate / HarperCollins, 348 pages, 599

Committing to the Banyan Revolution in the Amrit Kaal

Shashank Mani`s ‘Middle of Diamond India: National Renaissance through Participation and Enterprise’ (Penguin Viking) reveals the hidden stories of those in the Middle, that is, those i

Mahabharata: The (really) greatest story ever told

Dwapar Katha: The Stories of the Mahabharata By Sudipta Bhawmik HarperCollins, 608 pages, Rs 599.00

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


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