-The Hindu     While the stagnation in women's ability to control their own fate is disappointing, some of the other gender indicators are downright alarming On International Women's Day, the Election Commission of India held a special campaign to bring women voters to the polls. Although men and women vote at a more or less similar rate in State elections, women are 6-8 percentage points behind in the Lok Sabha elections where national...

-The Financial Express The Indian success story increasingly looks like a tale of naivety and optimistic complacency. The Indian success story increasingly looks like a tale of naivety and optimistic complacency, with the fantasy of ‘India Shining' obfuscating the reality of widespread deprivation. Despite rapid economic growth during the past decade, millions continue to live in poverty and hunger. The Indian government aims to address abject hunger and malnutrition with the National Food...

-The Guardian International Monetary Fund paper dismisses rightwing argument that redistributing incomes is self-defeating   The International Monetary Fund has backed economists who argue that inequality is a drag on growth in a discussion paper that has also dismissed rightwing theories that efforts to redistribute incomes are self-defeating. The Washington-based organisation, which advises governments on sustainable growth, said countries with high levels of inequality suffered lower growth than nations that distributed incomes more evenly. Backing...

-Economic and Political Weekly   It is debatable if the report of the Reserve Bank of India's committee on comprehensive fi nancial services - the Nachiket Mor Committee - offers practical solutions for extending banking services to the poorer sections of society and small businesses. The committee's recommendations are largely conceptual, and some of them could even have serious negative consequences. It is to be hoped that the RBI will examine all...

-The Hindu Ryots can use it at all bank ATMs to withdraw cash to buy fertilizer or seed TIRUPATI (Andhra Pradesh): ‘RuPay', the multipurpose smart card envisaged to enable payments from various financial institutions to beneficiaries through an impressive network of ATMs, is all set to benefit the farming community more than ever before, said National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala. Speaking after releasing and distributing the...