-The Hindu Biodiversity integration into developmental plans is crucial for sustainable development In a ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his environmental concerns clear when he asked people to use Ganesha and Durga idols made of clay instead of plaster of Paris. His appeal is bound to stimulate our environmental consciousness and encourage the preservation of precious natural resources. We need to build on this appeal and follow...

-PTI New Delhi: The Centre’s attention has been sought on the “rising neonatal mortality rate” among tribals in Kerala. C K Janu, leader of NDA ally Janadhipathya Rashtriya Sabha (JRS), today met Union Health and Family Welfare minister Jagat Prakash Nadda in this regard. The tribal leader told reporters that the minister agreed to send a central team in a week’s time to study the current situation of tribal children and their health. “We...

-The Hindu To overcome currency shortage at weekly markets, they are banking on the age-old practice CHAMPAGUDA (VISAKHAPATNAM DISTRICT): “What will we do with the Rs.2,000 note, which is a very big amount for us? As we don’t know how to exchange the demonetised note of Rs.500 in banks, we exchange it for Rs.400 from middlemen (called sahukars) in shandies (weekly markets),” says Kinusudi Kamala. She is among the many Tribal Women who...

-The Hindu They are often detained for carrying their annual savings — Rs.5,000 to Rs.6,000 — to nearby banks. Kolkata: Deep inside the forested areas of Bastar in south Chhattisgarh, the Gond tribals are confronting a “new problem” besides the usual ones. They are often detained for carrying their annual savings — Rs.5,000 to Rs.6,000 — to nearby banks, which is commonly as far as 50 km from their villages. “We are suspected...

The term 'development' holds a positive connotation for most policymakers. However, there are examples abound, which indicates that development also cause enormous misery to the people, particularly the poor and the marginalized. Take for instance, the organizing of 2010 Commonwealth Games, due to which massive infrastructural development in the national capital was undertaken when Sheila Dikshit was the Chief Minister of Delhi. It has been estimated that almost 2 lakh...