Youngsters in certain parts of India today cannot choose their partners. If they still do and the choice violates arbitrary, extra-legal norms set down by caste panchayats, the consequence can be death. Isn't it time we built a popular movement against the medieval practice of honour killings, asks AMMU JOSEPH. A newly-wed bride and her mother-in-law were killed and the groom seriously injured by the girl's relatives in the Tarn...
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Same-gotra marriage: Khap meet a no-show by Mandakini Gahlot
A large white tent in the middle of an arid ground in Jind served as the venue for a Sarv Maha Khap Panchayat meeting on Sunday. Organisers who were expecting “thousands of supporters” to join their ranks to announce “threats” aimed at everyone from the government to young couples who choose to marry within the same gotra (sub-caste) were in for a disappointment. By 12 noon, two hours after the...
More »Biodiversity, development, livelihoods by MS Swaminathan
Biodiversity drives sustainable and climate-resilient farming and the biotechnology industry. Everything should be done to spread bio-literacy for an era of bio-happiness in rural and urban India through the conversion of bio-resources into jobs and income. Biodiversity provides building blocks for sustainable food, health and livelihood security systems. It is the feedstock for the biotechnology industry and a climate-resilient farming system. Given its importance, a Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)...
More »PESA: Government's sheathed weapon
In the least remarked upon move by the government to take on the development challenge in left-wing extremist (LWE) areas, Sudha Pillai was elevated to member-secretary of the Planning Commission on the eve of her retirement from the IAS. A topper in her batch, Sudha was initially posted to her home state of Punjab and then moved to Kerala after her marriage to her batchmate, present home secretary Gopal Pillai....
More »4000 Families in Jharkhand Covered Under Tribal Development Fund
A Tribal Development Fund (TDF) of NABARD covered 4000 families in four horticultural projects sanctioned in the state of Jharkhand during 2008-’09 and 2009-’10. Mr. K V Thomas, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture informed Rajya Sabha the other day on May 7, 2010, the last day of the budget session of the parliament in reply to an un-starred question from the member Mr. Parimal Nathwani. Mr. Nathwani had...
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