When I hear the word “NGO”, the image evoked in my mind is that of my mother setting us homework to do on a Saturday morning and going off with her friends to teach knitting and sewing to indigent young girls in our hometown, Kannur, in the Malabar area of Kerala. My mother and her friends – wives of doctors, lawyers, government officials and prominent businessmen – had committed their...

-The Economic Times Small and marginal farmers who constitute more than 80% of total farmer households in the country face exclusion from formal financial channels," says the Nair Committee on priority sector lending. The same report says "commercial banks have been prescribed targets since late 1960s for priority sector lending".  The banking system failed the farmers and the needy despite nationalisation, but is there a viable model that could help the millions...

-The Business Standard Use central funds to push agri-reform in states The agriculture ministry’s reported decision to tie the state-wise allocation of funds from the National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP) to the states’ progress on agri-marketing reforms seems likely to benefit both farmers and consumers. Yet the gains from releasing central assistance only conditionally could be substantially augmented. If the Centre is serious about reform, it should expand this conditionality to other...

-The Hindu Show-cause for whistle-blower, Naga Mothers Association Unhappy with the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission, the Naga Mothers Association (NMA) — an apex body of women of different tribes in Nagaland — has called for a full-fledged inquiry into the scheme to eliminate shortcomings and ensure transparent and effective health delivery service. In a memorandum submitted to Governor Nikhil Kumar, a copy of which has been sent to the Union...

-PTI A Delhi court on Monday dismissed a case against Internet giant Yahoo for allegedly hosting objectionable content on its site and penalised the petitioner for dragging it in the litigation along with other social networking sites. Administrative civil judge Praveen Singh imposed a cost of Rs 5000 on plaintiff Mufti Aijas Arshad Quasmi for impleading the company as a party without disclosing any cause of action against it. The court had on...