Stating that there were “fewer women then men in India,” President Pratibha Patil on Thursday cautioned that if this trend continued it would have a negative impact on society. Punjab and Haryana were already seeing the “implications,” she said delivering the Dr. V.N. Tewari Memorial Oration on ‘Women as drivers of a rising India' at the Panjab University here. The President said: “An agenda for empowerment of women should cover gender needs...

If women in rural areas had the same access to land, technology, financial services, education and markets as men, agricultural production could be increased and the number of hungry people reduced by 100-150 million, FAO said today in its 2010-11 edition of The State of Food and Agriculture report. Yields on plots managed by women are lower than those managed by men, the report said. But this is not because women...

Bant Singh, a scarred survivor of class violence in rural India, has an indisputable claim to be a voice for India's impoverished and muted millions. The folk singer lost both arms and a leg in an attack five years ago after he dared to challenge high-caste landlords in his area of the northwestern state of Punjab who had raped his 17-year-old daughter. Set upon by a gang armed with iron bars, he...

Amartya Sen today said primary healthcare should be more accessible to people and sought the public sector’s support in healthcare. “I strongly say yes to right to health,” the Noble laureate said after formally announcing the launch of Pratichi (India) Institute in Salt Lake. The economist, who has been conducting research and development work in the fields of education, health and gender equality for the past 10 years, said Pratichi Trust, which...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called upon the judiciary not to exercise its power of judicial review to undermine the legitimate role assigned to other branches of the government. The PM made this appeal during his inaugural address at the 17th Commonwealth Law Conference at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) on Sunday in the presence of CJI S H Kapadia and several legal luminaries. Justice Kapadia, who spoke earlier, appealed to the...