Sehal Sagar village in Rajasthan has won the national water award instituted by the water resources ministry Nestled in Rajasthan’s bone-dry Tonk district, Sehal Sagar village boasts of lush green fields, wells full to the brim and healthy cattle. The surprise transformation has been possible because the village follows rainwater harvesting and develops its pasture land. Sehal Sagar has an elaborate network of ponds, canals and chaukas which ensure that every drop...

Child malnutrition in Gulbarga and Bijapur districts is a blot on Karnataka's image. Ba Ba Basavanna Anganwadi Hogona Avarekaalu Tinnona Ah, Aaa, Ee, Eee, Bariyona Mane Kadege Hogona (Come, Come, Basavanna Let's go to the anganwadi Let us eat beans And write A, B, C, D, And head towards home.) As Savitri Nimbad sings this ditty, the more than 20 children seated in a circle around her repeat each line in shrill voices. Almost all of them are between three and...

  As part of a drive against encroachment on government land, a big herd of cattle was pushed into agricultural fields in Raigarh to stampede the crops cultivated by Dalit farmers. The panchayat in Chicho-umariya village, 240 km east of Raipur, has defended the incident, which took place on October 30 and has created tension in the area. Local BJP leader Kartikram Pradhan, who also allegedly performs the role of sarpanch-pati (husband of...

Jamshedpur, Oct. 29: For 29 years, men and women of a village in a rebel-hit block have been staying awake to guard the trees. It could have been another forest conservation legend like the Chipko Movement in the 1970s, where Himachali women embraced trees to prevent commercial felling. But here, the unique effort of Pindrasol, a village under Ghurabandha block, 84km from Jamshedpur, is a tucked-away secret in the hinterland, though...

Biraj Patnaik, principal adviser to the Supreme Court commissioners on the right to food, is up in arms against the National Food Security Bill. “Despite multiple meetings and many suggestions put forward, what we have is a mockery of a bill. The government has made a dog’s breakfast out of the right to food bill,” he exclaims. Patnaik’s is not a one-off complaint. Some argue that the country’s law-making process is...