According to the latest census of 2011, the sex ratio in India is 917 women to 1000 men. This means theoretically, that 917 will have a female partner, but that 83 men will be left out. Alarming isn’t it? Still, it is a shame that many Indian households celebrate when a boy is born into the family, but are unhappy when a baby girl makes an entrance. Debarati Mukherjee speaks out from India.

“I shudder each time when I hear of the Taliban’s heinous activities. Malala Yousufzai’s story reminds me of the thousand crimes this extremist and ferocious group has perpetrated. None of these have any justification.” Marina Zaffari on the Taliban and the women of Afghanistan.

When you interview university students in Afghanistan, you can hardly find anyone who denies sexual harassment in the universities there. Professors teaching at the university are largely responsible for this abuse. You could get full marks or no marks in your exams; it simply depends on how you behave with them. Beautiful and stylish young girls are easy prey.

Electronic waste is a menace all over the world.  We keep hoarding new gadgets and don’t know how to safely dispose the old and faulty ones. Unknowingly, toxic elements in the gadgets like lead, mercury and nickel add up to the levels of environmental pollution.

“I believe that success in life is a matter of work and faith, like walking along a long road until we reach our aim. Nothing can define me, neither my shape, nor size, nor weight, because I trust my emotions and believe in my dreams.” Our reader from Africa, Ferhat Bezazel, shares his story with us.

Marina Zaffari is a well-known face in Afghan television. Like any other intelligent woman, Zaffari was fed up of seeing the typical ‘pretty’ presenter in a political talk show, nodding at her male colleagues and saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as the situation demanded.  She opted for a different track.