-The Hindu The Congress has steered clear of any debate on the AFSPA, leaving a politically untenable choice for the next government: repeal the Act or leave it untouched With its recent decision to extend the implementation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur by another year, the United Progressive Alliance's opportunistic posturing on the legislation has come full circle. The UPA's rendezvous with the AFSPA began months after it...
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Disabled population up by 22.4% in 2001-11 -B Sivakumar
-The Times of India CHENNAI: The country's disabled population has increased by 22.4% between 2001 and 2011. The number of disabled, which was 2.19 crore in 2001, rose in 2011 to 2.68 crore-1.5 crore males and 1.18 crore females. Rural areas have more disabled people than urban areas. In Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, JAMmu and Kashmir and Sikkim, the disabled account for 2.5% of the total population, while Tamil Nadu and Assam...
More »Tamil Nadu lagging behind in management of biodiversity: NBA -Arun Janardhanan
-The Times of India CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu, home to several rare flora and fauna, is lagging behind many other states in implementing the National Biological Diversity Act, 2002, according to data released by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), an autonomous statutory body. Under the Act, the NBA coordinates the conservation activities across the country, primarily through state biodiversity boards and biodiversity management committees (BMC) constituted at grassroots level. BMCs work towards preserving biological...
More »Ground report from Muzaffarnagar: Cruel winter in camp of no hope -Avijit Ghosh & Rakhi Chakrabarty
-The Times of India Days after Akhilesh Yadav urged the media "to go and assess... at the ground level yourself", TOI visited a relief camp for the Muzaffarnagar riot-hit and found the conditions as wretched as before SC's rap to the UP govt for the dismal conditions LOI (Muzaffarnagar): Life is cheap at the riot victims' camp here. In the past weeks, 11 children have died here; 74 pregnant women, 24 in...
More »Delhi’s poor planning, crippling infrastructure fails women -Neelam Pandey
-The Hindustan Times The December 16 gang rape, which rocked the country last year, had raised questions on the loopholes in policing across the country. However, what escaped attention was the crippling lack of infrastructure that leads to insecurity among the city's women. A lot was promised soon after the horrific incident, but very little has been done yet. NGOs working for the welfare of women have highlighted how our urban planning,...
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