-The Hindu Jaipur: On Akshaya Tritiya, considered auspicious, a large number of child marriages take place in rural Rajasthan The Rajasthan government has asked its health workers and paramedical staff and non-governmental organisations to prevent child marriages on Akshaya Tritiya, which falls on April 21, and Peepal Purnima on May 4. On these days, considered auspicious, a large number of child marriages take place nationwide, especially in rural Rajasthan. According to the Annual Health...

-The Indian Express New Delhi: In an order with wide-ranging ramifications, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Tuesday passed a series of stringent directions aimed at curbing air pollution in Delhi, banning all diesel vehicles more than 10 years old from plying in the National Capital Region, and sought an immediate stop to all illegal construction activity. Picking up several points brought out in the ‘Death by Breath' series, an ongoing investigation by...

-The Indian Express   New Delhi: Unseasonal rainfall accompanied by strong winds is seen to have caused significant damage to the standing rabi crop across North and Central India, adding to the woes of farmers already battling low price realisations and urea shortages. "These rains aren't beneficial for 90 per cent of the wheat, mustard or chana (chickpea) now in the fields. They may be useful only to the wheat that was sown...

-The Telegraph Prithla (Haryana): The noise from the factories and traffic cannot drown out the slogan resonating along the Delhi-Mathura highway, demanding a right to land for all and the scrapping of the land acquisition ordinance. "Sabki bhuk mitana hai to bhumi grahan ardhyadesh radh karo, bhumi samasya hal karo (To remove hunger, dump the ordinance and solve the problem of the landless)," goes the chant. Some 5,000 landless people and marginal farmers...

-The Hindu Silicosis deaths in Rajasthan mines leave behind a trail of young widows The Karauli-Dholpur-Bharatpur mining belt in eastern Rajasthan, which produces the country's best quality red sandstone, also has the largest number of young widows, most of them below 40 years. The older ones were widowed some decades ago, and worse, young girls almost see their future unfold before them. The common link: they were married to miners who died of...