-The Telegraph Nagpur: A special investigation Team will probe the alleged harassment of poor women borrowers in Maharashtra by loan recovery agents of micro-finance institutions, the state government announced today after month-long street protests and an Assembly debate. Junior home minister Deepak Kesarkar assured an agitated Assembly that the state was considering a law similar to one Andhra Pradesh had enacted in 2011 to regulate the MFIs' lending and loan recovery practices. About...
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IIT Madras group develops alternative system for communication during disasters -Shubashree Desikan
-The Hindu One of the first things to get affected during natural disasters and accidents is the communication network. In a country where over a billion use mobile phones, providing mobile connectivity during a disaster, at least for emergency usage, is a priority. In this context, an IIT Madras Team is developing a low-cost communication system that can enable rescue workers to communicate with a locally established centre and, through this centre,...
More »Lost in the Green Revolution, many-hued varieties of paddy are being revived in Kerala -Leneesh K & Sridhar R
-The News Minute Rice Diversity Blocks in Kerala and five other states preserve over 1,000 indigenous varieties of rice that were at risk of being lost. In the Indian subcontinent, the birthplace of paddy, the colours of the crop’s many varieties are as diverse as the land, its people, languages, cultures, costumes, dialects and so on. But most of that variety was lost, when farmers were asked to forgo indigenous varieties...
More »Post Demonetisation, Rural Health Takes a Serious Hit in Saharanpur -Bharat Dogra
-TheWire.in Not only are villagers unable to access timely medical care because of the lack of cash, nutrition levels are falling, making people more vulnerable to illness. Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh: In Sultanpur Chilkana village of the Sarsawa block in Saharanpur, Resham breaks down while talking about the death of her husband Chandar. Wiping her Tears, she tells us that he was very ill and needed medical attention urgently. But due to the...
More »Cashless bliss? Tea belt deflates dream -Avijit Sinha & Anirban Choudhury
-The Telegraph An indication of how far Narendra Modi could be from the dream of making India a predominantly cashless economy is available in a survey done by a Tea planters' association in the Dooars, a tribal belt that employs lakhs of Bengal's workforce in Tea estates. The survey done by the Dooars Branch of the Indian Tea Association (DBITA) in its 55 member gardens of the 80-plus estates dotting Japaiguri district...
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