-The Indian Express At a privately-run centre in South West Delhi, where residents include destitute women and victims of trafficking aged above 18 years, “a resident reported a shocking incident of sexual abuse where she was made to remove her salwar and chilli powder was inserted in her vagina. New Delhi: In a report to the Delhi government, a Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) audit of shelter homes for women...

-Livemint.com * The report also took note of open defecation in India as an impacting factor for health * Public health experts have also said that India need some more time to tackle malnutrition and the efforts are going on New Delhi: While India is tagged as a country with ‘serious’ levels of hunger, climate change will further worsen its undernutrition levels, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2019, a report jointly published by...

-The Telegraph Dalits account for over a third of the homeless New Delhi: Three in five homeless people surveyed across 15 Indian cities have said they were born in the city they now live in, a situation implying families trapped in destitution down the generations. A strong caste link too has emerged, with Dalits accounting for over a third of the homeless, double their share of India’s population. The European Union-funded study by the...

-The Hindu Powerful lobbies with vested interests see agroecology as a threat to their influence on farming systems Agroecology is recognised worldwide as a system that enhances fertile landscapes, increases yields, restores soil health and biodiversity, promotes climate resilience and improves farmers’ well-being. Its practices are supported by many agricultural scientists, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, farmers’ groups and several NGOs. It is therefore surprising that...

-The Hindu United Nations-led Conference to Combat Desertification assures ‘neutrality’ by 2030. New Delhi: A two-week long United Nations-led Conference to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) ended with a commitment to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030. Such neutrality is defined by the U.N. as ensuring that enough land is available across the world to ensure a sustainable future. The Delhi Declaration, a consensus document, agreed upon by more than 100 countries “welcomed” the proposed...