Climate change is springing an unpleasant surprise on agriculture in India, catching both farmers and governments unprepared. The erratic and deficit rainfall pattern and rise in temperature in recent years has even forced farmers to change cropping patterns and several areas have been declared drought-hit.Agricultural scientists acknowledge that even a mere one degree increase in average day temperature would adversely impact production of both wheat and rice crops (total annual...
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Human Rights Day 2010: The state of human rights in eleven countries of Asia
For the Human Rights Day in 2010 the Asian Human Rights Commission presents the reports on the state of human rights in eleven countries in Asia; Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea and Sri Lanka. The general picture that emerges is one of the failures of the states to carry out their obligations for the protection of people.Serious defects are evident in the area...
More »PHCs without doctors of no use: High Court by Mohamed Imranullah S.
Awards compensation of Rs.5 lakh for woman's death due to absence of medical officerEstablishing primary health centres (PHCs) in rural pockets and classifying them as 24- hour maternity hospitals will be of no use unless the government makes sure that doctors/medical officers are available there to attend to emergencies, the Madras High Court has said.Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar made the observation while directing the Director of Primary Health Services to...
More »Rehabilitation of Manual Scavenging
The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 enacted by Parliament prohibits manual scavenging. As per the Act, no person shall (a) engage in or employ for or permit to be engaged in or employed for any other person for manually carrying human excreta; or (b) construct or maintain a dry latrine. Contravention of these provisions is a criminal offence. So far, the Act has...
More »NREGA pay row sparks violence, 1 dead by Kabita Chowdhury
Dispute over payment of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act ( NREGA) scheme on Tuesday led to bloodshed in Murshidabad's Domkal the home turf of state panchayat minister Anisur Rahman. The tiff over the trivial issue took one life and left one injured speaking volumes for the underlying tension in the rural pockets of Bengal where political rivals have become used to settling all disputes with arms. On Tuesday morning, CPM-backed goons...
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