-TheNewsMinute.com The law will disproportionately affect women, and among them, Dalit women The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a Haryana law which would make 83 percent of Dalit women and 71 percent of women in general ineligible to participate in grassroots democracy. The Supreme Court upheld amendments to a law that the Haryana Assembly passed earlier this year. Elections to panchayats scheduled for October were postponed after the All India Democratic Women’s Association...

-The Statesman The first case of suicidal death of a farmer in Boudh district has been reported from Khuntapada under Harvanga block. According to the family sources of the deceased farmer Subha Kanta Pradhan, having being deeply frustrated with the crop loss and debt burden Pradhan had been depressed and talking of suicide for a few days. He had consumed poison on Monday and was admitted to the district headquarter hospital at...

-The Hindu Business Line Girls start self-help groups in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi and Sultanpur districts to address sanitation issues Combining Self-Help Groups (SHGs) with sanitation programmes is a model that is working well in villages of Amethi and Sultanpur districts of Uttar Pradesh. While the old concept of SHGs was thrift and economic empowerment of women, the more recent formation of young women’s SHGs has strengthened the movement for toilets and sanitary napkins....

-Hindustan Times Revolution imminent… genetically modified seeds produced by MNCs cause farmer suicides. Incendiary, out-of-context sound-bites juxtaposed between heartrending visuals distort rural poverty from a complex issue that each Indian must help resolve to a simplistic, accusatory Peepli Live feature. Instead of quixotic and strident anti-growth agendas offered as panacea, a coordinated and consistent approach to poverty reduction is needed. Poverty reduction needs development. The linkage between economic growth and poverty reduction is...

-Livemint.com With rural distress taking a turn for the worse due to weather woes and lower crop prices, farmer unions write to PM demanding constitution of commission New Delhi: With rural distress taking a turn for the worse due to weather woes and lower crop prices, leading farmer unions from across the country have written a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding constitution of an income commission that could...