-Down to Earth Patents on seeds by corporations leave farmers unable to save or share seeds Agricultural corporations may be impacting the right to food of women by taking legal action against farmers for breaching patent laws, as per a new UN study. “Big companies are suing farmers because they are using patented seeds without the permission. This is a very serious issue and millions of dollars the corporations are taking from...

-Livemint.com Investments via gender lens increase access to capital for women and girls, improve gender equality, say experts Less than 7% of all philanthropic dollars find their way to programmes designed specifically for girls and women—not a promising figure if gender equality in the world is the ultimate goal. This was the startling finding of a 2014 study by Women Moving Millions, an international not-for-profit agency. To improve gender equality, experts suggest...

-Down to Earth Having the highest number of malnourished children in the world, India cannot afford to overlook this fact Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat when he claimed that malnutrition in his state was high because girls had become “beauty-conscious”. In May 2014, he became the Prime Minister of India. Five months into his stint, the National Democratic Alliance government received a survey conducted by UNICEF named the “Rapid...

-CaravanMagazine.in Political realities blunt Narendra Modi’s attack on the NREGA At the end of December 2015, the central rural development ministry was in a state of panic. Nine of India’s largest states had declared drought in several districts. The scant kharif harvest meant many farm labourers, who might have been employed on fields, went without work. Water was so scarce that many farms weren’t sowing a winter crop, further diminishing employment...

-India Today Farmers along the Yamuna have claimed that Sri Sri's Art of Living Foundation forcibly acquired land from them for an event at a low compensation. New Delhi: This comes not from areas like Beed or Vidarbha where distressed farmers commit suicide every year, but the National Capital Region itself. While a mega-show has been planned for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living (AOL) Foundation event in farmland along the...