-Down to Earth Benefits of government schemes and policies go to big farmers, shows survey undertaken by CSDS on behalf of farmers' association A study by a premier social sciences research institute reinforces what policymakers and media have been talking about the past few years-that India is going through a deep agrarian crisis. The Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), based in Delhi, found that given an option majority of farmers...

-The Hindustan Times Sarpataha Village, Uttar Pradesh: In Sarpataha village, 35 km from Gorakhpur city, Ramrati Devi is one of the few people who have a pucca house. But that is not the only thing that sets apart this 56-year-old grandmother of two. She is also a model farmer. Ramrati took up agriculture 15 years back, when her husband Ram Bahal, 60, gave it up left it due to poor health. "Men...

-The Times of India No, it isn't just a feeling. You actually are slaving several more hours over the stove, the mop and childcare while your husband, father and brother are busy watching cricket. And now the world knows it too - a recent survey by Organization for Economic co-operation and Development (OECD) says that an average Indian man has the dubious distinction of spending all of 19 minutes a day...

-The Telegraph Rohtas: The Kaimur plateau, once an arms training centre for Maoist cadres, is turning out to be a hub of medicinal plants. Thanks to Ritesh Kumar Pandey, a progressive farmer, the plateau has turned from "red to green". Cultivation of medicinal plants such as ghreet kumari (aloe vera), ashwagandha (withania somnifera) and shatavar or satavari (asparagus recemosus) on the water-starved land has created a buzz among the residents of Maoist-hit districts...

-Live Mint Mint examines why millions of women are missing from farms, factories, colleges, and offices in India, which has one of the lowest ratios of working women in the world Mumbai: Every monsoon, minivans ferrying women labourers can be seen making their way from the small sleepy town of Wardha to Waifad village, 18 kilometres away. Urban workers from Wardha have come to occupy an integral part of Waifad's farm...