-PTI As on February 23, 2015, approximately 1.46 lakh consumers have voluntarily given up LPG subsidy on their domestic LPG connections. There are no plans to withdraw the facility of subsidised LPG cylinders to financially well off people, even as 1.46 lakh such consumers have voluntarily given up the subsidy, the government said on Tuesday. "As on February 23, 2015, approximately 1.46 lakh consumers have voluntarily given up LPG subsidy on their domestic...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: Girija devi was reduced to being an ordinary farm hand in Jalaun after the demise of her husband. As a widow, she was told she had no ownership rights to the land her family had held for many years. For years, she continued to till the land and worked on it as an agricultural labourer. Then, a local civil society organization helped her regain control over...

-IndiaSpend.com Chitrakoot (UP)/ Kota (Rajasthan)/ Mumbai: Slight and dark, Shyampati, 30, leaned against a house made fragile from unseasonal rain, and talked animatedly about life as a farmer, labourer, goat-herder, mother of four, main wage-earner and full-time housewife. Here in her rain-washed, poor village in western Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot district-and across the northern plains and southern plateau-Shyampati (she uses only one name) represents a hidden Indian demographic: the Indian women farmer, almost...

-Hindustan Times Jaipur: The village is called Piplantri. It could very well be re-named ‘pi-plant-tree'. For, this village in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district celebrates the birth of a girl by planting 111 trees, a unique achievement in a state where female foeticide is rampant and the sex ratio is one of the most skewed in the country. For Piplantri, the international women's Day on March 8 may not mean anything but for...

-The Indian Express The budget aims at economic growth and social protection. This is welcome. So are provisions for financial inclusion, housing, water, sanitation and rural electrification. But there are also substantial cuts in crucial social sectors and key omissions that are likely to undermine its stated economic objectives. Consider agriculture, environment and women. First, double-digit growth or poverty reduction is unlikely without strong, sustained agricultural growth. In 2014-15, agriculture grew at...