-Frontline How far will the proposed women's bank help marginalised sections when women's SHGs get little support and find it hard even to open accounts in public sector banks? WHILE the recent announcement of a women's bank in the Union Budget has been touted as a progressive measure for the financial inclusion of women, no concrete measures have been forthcoming to make all existing public sector banks sensitive to the needs...

-The Guardian Negotiations end with agreement on ending violence against women at the Commission on the Status of Women, but civil society groups express concerns UN officials and activists expressed relief and delight over news that an agreement had been reached at this year's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Greeted with cheers, the agreed outcome document of the 57th CSW, which was announced on Friday evening, was hailed as an "important...

-The Hindu Rajouri /Janjgir Champa: Exactly a year ago last February, 78 migrants working in bonded debt in brick kilns in Jammu and Kashmir made a desperate bid to start a new life. Sahodara Bai, who had worked at the kiln with her husband and eight children for 25 years, returned from a rare visit to her village in the plains in Chhattisgarh with a pamphlet. “The parchaa (pamphlet) had the name...

-Frontline Social development indicators in Gujarat are poor, proving that development in the State is lopsided On a hot day last November near Rajkot, Ramjibhai Patel, an octogenarian farmer, pointed to the middle distance and said, “See that lake?” There was indeed a shimmer in the dry landscape indicating water, but after a relatively poor monsoon, it seemed improbable. Chuckling, he said, “Yes, I see doubt on your face and you are...

-The Economic Times Rural Development minister Jairam Ramesh has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh explaining the positive impact of the rural employment guarantee programme on agricultural production. The note is in response to persistent claims by Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar that the rural employment scheme has adversely affected agriculture. Stressing on the positive impact of the UPA's employment programme, Ramesh has suggested that the Prime...