The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) recently in New Delhi, India gathered more than 900 participants for an international conference to examine ways that agriculture can enhance the health and nutritional status of poor people in developing worlds. Scholars, Politicians and activists during the conference tried to exploit the nexus between agriculture, nutrition and health. Most people would say that agriculture is for growing food, and on one level, they are...
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Growth as tool to alleviate poverty
The Prime Minister's focus on double-digit growth is not due to any ‘growth mania'. It is for the benefit of the poor. At a recent function for police officers, the Prime Minister observed: “If we don't control Naxalism, we have to say goodbye to our country's ambition to sustain a growth rate of 10 to 11 per cent per annum.” Some commentators (like Prof Prabhat Patnaik of JNU) interpret this (in a...
More »Oppressor's case by TK Rajalakshmi
Women's organisations rise up against a petition that seeks an amendment to Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. A PETITION that alleges the misuse of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which has been admitted by the Rajya Sabha Committee on Petitions, has become an object of concern among leading women's organisations in the country. The petition claims that the law, dealing with dowry-related torture and acute domestic...
More »India to join global effort to unchain mentally ill by Kounteya Sinha
India is all set to be part of the global movement to free mentally ill people from chains. A shameful practice often referred to as a blot on human rights, mentally ill patients in the southeast Asia region, including India, are chained to poles or their beds in institutions meant to cure them. In the Erwadi tragedy in India in 2001, over 20 people with mental illness were burned to death after...
More »“Why two different Bills on mental health?” by Aarti Dhar
Disability rights groups are up in arms against the divergent stands being taken by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on the rights of persons with disabilities. As per the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), ratified by India, all human beings are presumed to have legal capacities. However, while the new Persons with Disabilities Act, 2011...
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