-The Hindustan Times   Patiala: A new study on farmers' suicide has revealed that young and unmarried farmers are more prone to suicides. Increasing frustration among young farmers because of agrarian crisis is compelling farmers to commit suicides. Titled "Agrarian distress in Punjab: a study of suicides by farmers and agricultural labourers", the study concludes that half of the farmers who committed suicides are below the age of 35 years and out of...

-Grist Media   The people of the Thar desert have their ways. This story unfolds over a year and recounts history through contemporary lives lived gently and with the land. It experiences first-hand the extraordinary old magic of growing lush crops in the desert. The land was the color of burnt caramel. It was flat and it was featureless: there was no tree in sight, no blade of grass, no ditch, no dune,...

Lokniti - Programme for Comparative Democracy was established in 1997 as a research programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi. The CSDS is an autonomous social science research institution. Since the inception of the CSDS in 1963, the writings of scholars like Rajni Kothari, D.L. Sheth and Ashis Nandy have become a point of reference for various attempts from the South to question the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Rajnath Singh, who assumed charge as home minister on Thursday, has hinted at the possibility of looking at the merger of the National Population Register (NPR) exercise and Aadhar scheme. During his first interaction with ministry officials, Singh is said to have asked for suggestions on how the two schemes could be made "complementary" so as to eliminate any duplicity between them. Incidentally, the UPA's flagship Aadhar...

-The New Indian Express   NEW DELHI: The good times may be over for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in ‘mysterious' sectors like participatory democracy, advocacy, action research, innovative communication, inclusiveness etc. Sources said Foreigners Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), is tightening the noose around such NGOs and a wide ranging reform is on the top of its agenda. "Activities of NGOs organising workshops on the regulatory frameworks, developing communication strategies, people...