-The Hindu Loss of livelihoods has pushed poor families to opt for early marriages The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown have proved to be new drivers of child marriages in rural Madhya Pradesh with several reports of such ceremonies from different parts of the State during the ongoing marriage season. “I am a widow and I don’t have any kind of social security. Marriage is the only safe option for my daughters,” said...

-The Hindu Business Line Early germination failure of soyabean seeds this July saw farmers join hands against seed companies; farmer organisations and political parties now seem to have thrown in their hats Pune: An increasing number of soybean and onion farmers deciding to develop seed plots, so that they don’t have to buy seeds from private seed companies, has the seed industry worried. Maharashtra agriculture department is encouraging farmers to develop their own...

-Press release by National Coalition for Strengthening SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (NCSPA) dated 1st October 2020 Despite explicit constitutional provision and guidelines, the Dalit community across India remain the worst sufferers of the scourge of the caste system, which perpetuates not an only social hierarchy but also institutional discrimination and social exclusion. In the last few months under Covid-19 pandemic, India witnessed an alarming increase in the cases...

-Press release by All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) and National Dalit Movement for Justice (NDMJ) dated 30th September 2020 In a joint statement, AIDMAM and NDMJ have condemned the rising atrocities against dalit women in Uttar Pradesh. Please click here to access the press statement dated 30th September 2020. For more information, please contact: Dr.Debjani naskar Media Coordinator NDMJ-NCDHR Mobile: 9990093005 Email: debjani@ncdhr.org   ...

-The Financial Express In part one of this article (Secondary agriculture is of primary importance; August 10; https://bit.ly/31H0h0E), the need to expand the market range both horizontally (territorial extension) and vertically (functional expansion), as also the role of agro-processing in achieving the latter in particular, were discussed. In this part, the article dwells upon promoting secondary agriculture on the shoulders of food and non-food processing. Current status of agro-processing The processing sector in...