-Frontline.in Ten million girls in India could drop out of secondary school due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Right to Education Forum policy brief. With 1.6 million girls aged 11 to 14 years currently out of school, the pandemic could disproportionately impact girls further by putting them at risk of early marriage, early pregnancy, poverty, trafficking and violence. Released on January 24, the International Day of Education and National Girl...

-Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Millets are considered as smart crops that are resilient to climate stress and have nutritional advantages. Odisha’s initiative in millets, from farm to plates, has been intervening through four verticals in production (with new agronomic practices), processing, marketing and consumption (includes awareness campaigns and also through inclusion in nutritional programmes). Odisha also started procurement of mandia/ragi (finger millet) since 2018-19. These have important lessons for other States in...

-The Hindu The work women perform for the family should be valued equally with men’s work during the continuance of marriage “The wife owes service and labor to her husband as much and as absolutely as the slave does to his master. This grates harshly upon the ears of Christendom; but it is made palpably and practically true all through our statute books, despite the poetic fancy which views woman as elevated...

-Livemint.com Gujarat has high per capita income and an enviable industrial sector. But it has a lot of progress to make on health and other social parameters  Earlier this week, the Gujarat government renamed the dragon fruit as Kamalam, its explanation being that its outer shape resembles that of a lotus. This symbolic act has drawn criticism for the state’s priorities, especially during a global pandemic. Here are five areas of greater...

-Down to Earth By 2080, greenhouse gases are expected to raise the risk of extreme wildfire by 50%, according to the study Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution caused by human activities had distinct regional impacts on extreme outbreaks of wildfire, according to a new study conducted by the University of California Santa Barbara in the United States. The study examined the weather under various combinations of human influences since 1920, isolating...