At one end of Delhi, in the verdant campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, scholars gathered to update one another on the current trends in Historical Materialism.

Newsclick discusses the Verma Committee Report on Amendments to the Criminal Law and the subsequent Government Ordinance with Ayesha Kidwai, member of GSCASH, Jawaharlal Nehru University's Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment. She says the report is comprehensive and wide-ranging. It is the first document that has actually encoded women's rights and taken into account the ground level experience of women activists. Kidwai criticises the ordinance promulgated by the government, as it undercuts the wide-ranging scope and depth of the Verma Report. She also questions the government's attempt to scuttle debate in Parliament on the issues raised by the Verma Report through this ordinance.

The Delhi gangrape case has led to country-wide outrage, with young women and men still pouring out on to the streets to protest against the widespread culture of sexual violence.

In 2007 the Government of Andhra Pradesh launched an insurance scheme that was designed to protect patients from the ‘catastrophic’ impact of out of pocket expenses incurred on hospital care.

Prof. Jayati Ghosh, JNU discusses with Newsclick the impact of the elections in France and Greece on the fiscal and economic policies of Euro zone. She believes that though Greece is now nearing end-game, if Germany and the EU is willing to change its austerity regime, there is still a chance of Euro zone to continue. But it will require a fundamental change in its economic vision that is still tied to the neo-liberal framework