-Down to Earth It also says that the rate of rural Indian girls marrying before 18 years is twice that of their urban counterparts Child marriage is still common in India, with most Indian adolescents getting married before the age of 18, the latest report by prestigious medical journal The Lancet has revealed. The report, prepared by a Lancet “commission” made up of 30 experts from 14 countries, was released on May 11. The...

It seems that not only civil society activists, but even the poor and marginalized themselves are not happy with the Centre’s social welfare policies. Following the recent protest by 150 eminent persons regarding failure of the NDA Government to take-up urgent measures for employment generation and ensuring food, nutrition & drinking water security in the backdrop of severe drought in roughly 1/3rd of Indian districts (please click here to access),...

-Down to Earth Blog MGNREGA has been successful in Madhya Pradesh. Can the scheme also provide solutions for the current drought in the region? Sevanti Bai (45) lives alone in a village in Madhya Pradesh. Her husband died fifteen years ago, owing to health complications. With no land or children to depend on, she fends for herself by engaging in ‘rojgaar guarantee, as the locals call the scheme. MGNREGA, she says, has...

-The Hindu Waning El Nino among factors underlying Met office’s optimism. In line with recent predictions by private weather forecasters, India’s official weather forecasting agency too has said the monsoon is likely to be “above normal” and likely to be 106 per cent of the average of 89 cm. Monsoon rains within 96 per cent and 104 per cent of this average are considered “normal” in the terminology of the India Meteorological Department...

-Down to Earth Blog   By pretending the Aadhaar regulation is a money bill, the Modi government has used Nazi tactics to avoid parliamentary debate On March 16, something unusual occurred in the Indian republic. A Bill that has widespread social and economic ramifications and contains a set of rules that would have far-ranging consequences on the lives of 1.3 billion Indians was approved by the Lok Sabha after bypassing the Rajya Sabha....