-South Asia Media Through his bloodshot, ruined eyes, ten-year-old Roshan Singh struggles to read his favourite comic book before readying for school in this remote and desolate village along the Indian-Pakistan border. Singh, whom doctors say will soon be blind, has always drunk ground water drawn from communal handpumps that experts say is highly toxic and responsible for maiming scores of residents young and old. "I fear the worst all the time. My...
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Melting glaciers, changing climate -Meena Menon
-The Hindu Though studies point to an increase in the pace of glacier wastage in the western Himalayas, long-term monitoring is required to study glacier evolution and its relation to the climate At dawn, Mohd Soheb begins an arduous trek to the high camp at Chhota Shigri glacier in the Pir Panjal range in Spiti valley, Himachal Pradesh. From the PWD guesthouse at Chota Dara, he walks down to the Chandra river...
More »Digging wells, the solid scientific way -K Lakshmi
-The Hindu Chennai: Wondering which spot to dig for groundwater or what is the quality of water in the land you own? Are you still thinking of folks walking around with those peculiar ‘Y'-shaped twigs? It's not quite that way any more. We've become more scientific, we're using special tools to figure out where the water lies. The ‘we' in this case refers to the State Ground and Surface Water Resources Data...
More »Stolen generation -Rekha Dixit
-The Week Shambhu Kumar, 8, quite liked his job as a domestic help in a small town in Assam. He had to mind two children nearly his age, keep an eye on the ducks and be available for chores all day. It wasn't too hard, and he was well fed, too, though he missed his grandmother, a tea garden labourer. One day, some women from the state education department came to the...
More »Social Media and Technology could be a Powerful Force to Create a More Equal Society by 2030
-UNDP India New Delhi: "Social media is changing the way we live and relate to each other" said noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. The challenge in his view, was "how to ensure those ideas are positive and for the good?" Mr. Kapur was speaking at the Social Good Summit 2014, ‘Technology for Social Good' organized by the United Nations Development Programme in India. Talking of his vision for the world in 2030,...
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