Last week's column, “The plight of Dalits and the news media” (October 25, 2010), has generated a lively and interesting response from several readers. The column was about the prioritisation of the tasks before the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes (NCSC) by its new Chairman, P.L. Punia (not P.J. Punia as erroneously mentioned in the column.) The concern of most who wrote was over the failure of successive governments...
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Orissa bans fishing in coastal areas for seven months by Hemant Kumar Rout
Orissa government has imposed a seven-month ban on fishing for the nesting and breeding season of Olive Ridley Turtles. This will affect the livelihood of at least three lakh fishermen across the state. Fish eaters will have to pay more for sea fishes or will have to satisfy themselves with sweet water fishes. The ban will be in force along 120 km sea coast in six districts of Balasore, Bhadrak,...
More »Big concerns over small loans by Bindu Ananth and Nachiket Mor
Microfinance is an effective tool for financial inclusion. Here are some elements of the recently embattled sector The recent controversy surrounding the microfinance sector has entirely eclipsed the fact that it is the first effort in India to have delivered financial services to remote corners of the country in a self-sustaining manner. The stakes are high for India’s poor, and we have to pave the way for orderly growth in the...
More »What drives the Dalits to Christianity? by Bhupendra Yadav
DALIT THEOLOGY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTurY — Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways: Edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenbandhu Manchala, Philip Vinod Peacock; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 745. Although Christian missionaries of various denominations have been active in India for several cenTuries, the 1941 Census placed the number of Christians in colonial India at just 1.6 per cent of the population. This clearly indicates that the...
More »Taking Solar Energy to Remote Villages: Barefoot College Shows The Way by Bharat Dogra
While renewable energy was always considered more desirable from the point of view of environment protection, its importance has increased several times in these times of climate change. Solar energy is particularly seen as a very promising source in energy planning for the fuTure in tropical countries like India. Interest in realising the potential of solar energy is fast increasing and organisations which have been pioneers in solar energy are...
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