-The New Indian Express Hyderabad: Candle in the wind is a disturbing, 52-minute documentary. Screened at Goethe Zentrum on Saturday evening, it was seen with rapt attention by a group of viewers who were students and working professionals. This 2012 venture, directed by Kavita Bahl and Nandan Saxena, highlights the farmer suicides escalating in Punjab where the widows are facing a major crisis, yet re-negotiating their spaces in a patriarchal society...

-PTI   Laxmi, a victim of acid attack has been selected by the US for the prestigious International Women of Courage Award. Ms. Laxmi would receive the award from First Lady Michelle Obama at an awards ceremony in Washington. She was 16 when an acquaintance threw acid on her face while she waited at a bus stop in New Delhi's Khan Market in 2005, disfiguring her permanently. "Many acid attack victims never return to normal...

-The Asian Age "The replacement of the rich diversity of Punjab with monocultures of rice in the kharif season and wheat in the rabi season has also contributed to the impoverishment of the soils and farmers" The year 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, a military operation which took place in June 1984 in Punjab. It was ordered by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his...

-Sunday Pioneer A cluster of villages engaged in weaving the exquisite Benarasi sarees is in the midst of a serious health crisis. More than 1 lakh people from this once prosperous region have fallen prey to aggressive tuberculosis. Poor living conditions, working in dark rooms and constant inhalation of minute silk threads have weakened the lungs of these artisans. With an average monthly income of not more than Rs3,000, it is...

-The Hindu A warmer world may be leading to a delayed withdrawal of the Indian monsoon, hitting crop yield and affecting the livelihoods of small farmers and agricultural workers The joys of a bountiful southwest monsoon are increasingly changing to anxiety as the rains unseasonally drag on in many parts of India. "The normal rains should be from June 1 to mid-September. In fact it usually reduces by August 15, and is...