-The Hindu How gender sensitive are the government’s flagship programmes, probes a report to be released today Why is the concept of ‘citizen’ always a male? Why is the formulation of government policies always male centric leaving out the female counterpart that actually constitutes half the population and contributes in equal measure to the economy? Perhaps keeping this in mind, UN Women and economists have come up with a report on eight flagship...

-The Hindu ‘Governments must protect interest of producer, consumer’ The controversy regarding India’s permission to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and growing “land grab” in Africa by multinational corporations are being closely watched globally by agriculture experts, researchers and donors. At a workshop here on ‘Supporting Policy Research to Inform Agricultural Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia’ — which a few journalists from both regions were invited to attend —...

-The Indian Express In a major course correction, the 153 amendments that Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh is likely to introduce to the Land Acquisition Bill in Lok Sabha on Tuesday includes a watered-down retrospective clause. The cabinet, which met last Thursday, had established the sanctity of awards declared for ongoing land acquisition processes under the existing Land Acquisition Act, 1894 across the country. This was a rejection of Jairam’s proposal to...

-The Hindu Business Line Can you imagine many men who never donned domestic roles are now sharing household works in rural India? This is one of the findings of a national study, conducted on the impact of self help groups in the last two decades, which Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh has released here.   Finance and managment The study, conducted by the National Network of Enabling Self Movement (Enable) in eight States...

-Outlook Describing the government's ambitious direct cash transfer scheme as a "powerful tool", Reserve Bank Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty has said the initiative will help reduce fiscal deficit, which in turn will also bring down inflation if implemented well. "The direct cash transfer scheme will reduce the fiscal deficit, which in turn will facilitate inflation control," Chakrabarty, the senior-most of the four deputy governors at the Mint Road, told PTI in...