-The Hindu   Governments of all hues at the Center and state levels have always claimed to be working for uplift of dalits and tribals, two of the most deprived sections in India. Together, they comprise nearly a quarter of India's population. Yet progress has been slow and patchy despite decades of affirmative action. Why?  Part of the answer lies in gross neglect and insincerity of political rulers - this is the conclusion...

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) has released draft recommendations for a social security package for the country’s unorganized sector, which envisages providing life, disability and health cover, maternity benefits and old-age pension to workers. NAC, in a draft released on 7 March, suggested that the different welfare schemes being run by the ministries of women and child development, health and family welfare, finance and labour and employment should be...

Ten years after the killings in Gujarat, Narendra Modi has neither expressed regret nor has he been held accountable for those mass deaths. Where do we go from here? Anand Teltumbde (tanandraj@gmail.com) is a writer and civil rights activist with the Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights, Mumbai.   Just thinking of it, a shiver runs down my spine. I had my own brush with how the Hindutva gangs carried out the...

An international conference on agriculture beginning here on Tuesday will debate the multiple challenges faced by women in farms across developing economies, including finding gender-sensitive solutions to reduce drudgery involved in farm work with better technology innovation. From sowing to selling farm products, women’s role in agriculture has been globally recognized, A. Ayyappan, director general of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), told reporters on Monday. The three-day conference will address...

-The Economic Times The government has allowed a local drugmaker to make and sell a patented cancer drug at a fraction of the price charged by Germany's Bayer AG, setting a precedent for more such efforts by Indian firms and heightening the global pharmaceutical industry's anxiety over the use of the controversial compulsory licensing provision.  The outgoing patent controller of India, PH Kurian, on Monday granted the country's first compulsory licence to...