-Livemint.com Odisha is a front-runner in women’s land ownership, much of it owing to government policies from the 1980s. But has ownership led to empowerment? Surrounded by sun-drenched paddy fields interspersed with jackfruit and banana trees, Sanakusupadu is a hamlet in Odisha’s tribal-dominated district of Rayagada. Here, almost every married woman owns land. No matter how small the holding, land documents of the 62 households in this village bear the names of the...

-The Hindu The focus must be on waste management and recycling We celebrated ‘World Environment Day’ (June 5) with a critical theme: beat plastic pollution. Since India was the global host of this year’s event, and also one of the victims of plastic pollution, we should view this danger seriously. The theme urges governments, industries, communities and individuals to come together and explore sustainable alternatives. It also urges this target group to...

-The Hindu How Zero Budget Natural Farming could be the model for the future In early June, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced that the State would fully embrace Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), a chemical-free method that would cover all farmers by 2024. Earlier in the year, he had revealed these plans at the meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Even though this revolution has been in the...

-TheWire.in Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Government has announced a ban on the use of plastics from January 1, 2019. This is a remarkable move aimed towards reducing the amount of plastic waste generated in the state. But is this enough to save the environment in the state? This announcement came barely a fortnight after the brutal killing of 13 people protesting against the Sterlite Copper unit in Thoothukudi. Sterlite Copper is one...

-The Hindu Business Line The Ayushman Bharat programme must aim to reverse poverty caused by healthcare expenses The state of India’s healthcare system is somewhat dichotomous — the country is a global supplier of life-saving, affordable and good quality generic medicines, yet lakhs of families are driven into poverty because they are forced to spend much of their earnings and savings on medications to treat chronic and life-threatening diseases. The poor, particularly,...