-Newsclick.in Economist Jean Dreze attributes the better performance of the state in human development indicators to the extensive land reforms that were carried out by the National Conference government in the 1950s and contends that Article 370 made these reforms possible. The Government of India recently abrogated the special status enjoyed by the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. One of the main raison...

-TheWire.in Instead, we should focus on why population control efforts have mostly translated to controlling women's, and not men's, fertility. In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that the government considers population explosion to be in the way of India’s development. This isn’t the first time in the history of independent India when a government has tried to control the population. A similar fear led to the...

-The Telegraph 'The people of Kashmir need healing from the deep wounds of this conflict, not subjugation to further violence and alienation' If nature abhors a vacuum, so does journalism. The Lancet, an international medical journal, has referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “prosperity” justification for the changes in Jammu and Kashmir and said the people there first need healing, not subjugation and alienation. The journal has also raised concerns about the mental...

-National Herald Figures prove due to special status, J&K outscored Gujarat on selected indicators. As per Dreze it is an illusion that removing Article 370 will bring development in the Valley Life expectancy at birth is higher in Jammu and Kashmir which is depicted as a terrorist-state by media as compared to Gujarat which is projected as a model state in India; percentage of the rural population living below the poverty line...

-The Hindu Kerala needs to adopt watershed-based master planning and review building byelaws The unique geography of Kerala, with its steep climbdown from 900m high elevations of the Western Ghats to the coast of Malabar, has resulted in a land with a vast riverine network. There are no less than 44 fast flowing rivers that drain the rainwater Kerala is blessed with into the Arabian Sea. It is a lifeline that supports...