Neelima Mishra, resident of Bahardarpur in Jalgaon, 375 km from Mumbai, was presented the Magsaysay award for her tireless contribution to rural work on Wednesday. Mishra, popularly known as Didi, has been working in Parola tehsil since 2000. “The Magsaysay organisation told me a month ago that my name has featured in the awardees list, but they asked me not to share the news with many people,” Mishra told DNA over phone. “I...
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Jairam to tour Naxal-hit areas-by Sreelatha Menon
New rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who declared his intent to focus on Naxal-hit areas on the day he took charge, is set to visit these. Ramesh, who his ministry officials describe as a man in a hurry, is setting off to Raipur, Jagdalpur and a few more places in Chhattisgarh. The visit is likely this week, sources said. At the signing of a loan agreement today with the World Bank...
More »Rural poor left out in financial inclusion
-The Indian Express Financial inclusion in India seems to be far from inclusive. Out of a total of 5,165 new branches opened in 2011, only 21.86 per cent are rural branches, says a study. A growth rate of more than 700 per cent in urban Customer Service Points (CSPs) over the last year points towards the latest trend of urbanisation among Business Correspondents (BCs). Although there is not much difference between growth...
More »Bribery charge must now be investigated by Siddharth Varadarajan
The Embassy cable suggests a serious crime was committed on Indian soil to which U.S. diplomats were privy. The Prime Minister cannot cite lame arguments to justify inaction. Since politics is a distraction, consider the following retelling of the WikiLeaks tale. An activist dies in a traffic accident. CCTV footage from a bank nearby suggests he might have been murdered but the case is never investigated properly. Three years later,...
More »In farmer's name by R Ramakumar
The policy is to promote specific high-value segments within agriculture, where corporate houses have major profit interests. A COMMON compliment that Pranab Mukherjee's Union Budget for 2011-12 received from the media was its proclaimed “friendliness” to agriculture and rural areas. It was not just the media; members of India Inc. welcomed the Budget as “focussed” on agriculture. However, a close look at the Budget estimates reveals a different picture. Public...
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