-The Hindu Serious efforts must be made to deter sex selective abortion and infanticide Few things cast a long shadow on human failing as much as sex selection does. To choose on the basis of gender and eliminate new life if the gender is not ‘favourable’ can easily be among humanity’s worst moments. Last week’s case of infanticide in Tamil Nadu’s Usilampatti, historically notorious for its crude methods of killing female babies,...

-Networkideas.org We are economists and social scientists who are deeply concerned about the major implications for the Indian statistical system, of the attempt to combine data collection for the 2021 Census of India with that for the proposed National Population Register. The Census of India, which provides a basic household and population listing based on anonymous data, is an essential requirement for the country and provides the statistical basis for all assessments...

-The Indian Express India’s citizenry is well and truly into a battle for constitutional values, which must be fought, most of all, with non-violent determination and vigour. In the historical scale of rioting, where do the recent Delhi riots belong? And what is their larger political significance? The first question is statistical. During early to mid-1990s, Steven Wilkinson, now teaching at Yale, and I, set up a database for all recorded Hindu-Muslim riots...

-Down to Earth Advent of modern water conservation systems and unequal distribution of labour work in Karnataka, Kerala districts have pushed them into decline   'Kattas' — temporary check dams built across streams and rivulets — used to be a common sight in the districts of Kerala and Karnataka till two decades ago. These traditional structures were constructed every year to conserve water for summer irrigation. Thousands of these structures were prominently found...

-Down to Earth Odisha supports its nutrition agenda through agricultural policies, the public distribution system among others Odisha has become the first Indian state to draw up a nutrition budget in the country. The idea of a thematic budget for nutrition is a unique one in India where an inter-departmental approach is followed. Key participants in this approach include anganwadi centres, schools and health institutions. Additionally, Odisha supports its nutrition agenda through agricultural...