-The Hindu   The rising tide of female voters in 2014 might have had a concrete impact on the outcome of these elections, data shows. Despite the Election Commission's efforts to get more women registered to vote, the number of female electors (those registered to vote) grew much slower than the number of male electors, between 2009 and 2014, The Hindu found. Men registered to vote outnumber women by over 40 million, giving...

-PTI Ahmedabad: Farmers in Gujarat have asked the state government to adopt a new technique that helps in increasing the yield of rice as part of its farm policy. 'System of Rice Intensification' (SRI), a method of boosting yield of the key kharif crop, has been adopted by some of the States in the country. Nearly 100 farmers from Dang, Valsad and Navsari districts want Gujarat to implement this procedure and incorporate it...

-Down to Earth   India needs second-generation reforms in environmental governance to protect environment and community rights and reduce transaction costs for industry After more than two years of flip-flops by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the Supreme Court (SC) gave a deadline of April 30, this year to the ministry to start the process of setting up a national environmental regulator under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, with offices...

-Down to Earth Most suicides among orchard farmers, say observers As many as 101 farmers have committed suicide in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra since the devastating hailstorms in March this year. This sudden spurt of suicides has raised concerns as to whether this arid region is heading for an agrarian crisis similar to that of Vidarbha. A whopping 71 suicides have been reported in the month of March 2014, close on the...

-Live Mint The problem is unlikely to be solved by government action alone   With almost every second child stunted in the country, India is virtually a nutritional basket case. Despite making giant strides in reducing poverty and hunger over the past two decades, India has struggled to combat child under-nutrition. India's malnutrition burden arises from a long history of flawed policy choices and deep-rooted gender inequality, which the new government must address...