Female foeticide is one of the most nefarious crimes on this earth; perhaps what is detestable is that the people who commit crime belong to the educated class. To this menace our ancestral and biased view about male child, lack of education, ever increasing population and dowry have been good propellants. However, male- biasness is not only restricted to the poor families but it is much to do with the cultural beliefs and social norms. The cost of such baseless beliefs is paid by the girls at every sphere of her survival. Sex disparity persists not only in educational indicators but also in...

The empowerment of women is one of the central issues in the process of development of countries all over the world. India has a glorious tradition of recognizing the importance of empowering women over several centuries now. The contribution of writers and social reformers has been well documented. The Government of India has made empowerment of women as one of the principal objectives of the ninth, Five Year Plan and also declared 2001 as the year of 'Women's Empowerment'.