Neglected by conventional banks, low-income women in Satara have set one up themselves. Not long after Chetna Gala Sinha came to the drought-stricken region of Mhaswad in western Maharashtra to marry a farmer and prominent local social Activist, she began putting her university degree in finance into action. Local women, she observed, were wearing themselves out in subsistence livelihood such as growing grapes or selling vegetables. In 1992, Chetna, who grew up...
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Team Anna reviews poll plan by Himanshi Dhawan
Wary of a political backlash after its campaign against Congress in last year's Hisar Lok Sabha by-poll and the lukewarm response to Anna Hazare's Mumbai stir, Team Anna is divided on whether to extend the anti-Congress movement to poll-bound states. Team Anna's concerns increased after BJP was severely criticized for accepting former BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha into its fold and Congress asked whether the Activists will turn their guns towards...
More »CJI's office cannot withhold all information: CIC by J Venkatesan
Supreme Court's CPIO asked to give information to RTI Activist Subash Chandra Aggarwal in 10 days The Central Information Commission (CIC) has held that all information in possession of the office of the Chief Justice of India is not completely exempt from disclosure under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. “While we concede that due to the stay granted by the Supreme Court [in the assets case], all information relating to the...
More »Using the cow by Javed Anand
If you are a resident of Madhya Pradesh, Muslim and poor, nowhere close to the class of nawabs who can pay for murg musallam or mutton raan, watch your pot! The BJP government, led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has just armed itself with a big danda ostensibly to protect the holy cow and its progeny. But, make no mistake, it’s a stick to beat you with. To save your...
More »Mass RTI plea hearing a huge hit
-DNA The first day of the mass clearing programme of RTI applications piled up at the state information commission (SIC) was a grand success, with 53 of the 63 appellants (81%) making it for the hearing on Tuesday. The commission hopes to hear nearly 600 second appeals in the four-day ‘special appeal disposal programme’ kicked off at the Poddar Medical College on Dr Annie Besant Road at Worli. Acting state chief information commissioner...
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