-IPS News Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin is the Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund UNITED NATIONS: The tragic deaths and injuries of women following sterilisation in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh have sparked global media coverage and public concern and outrage. Now we must ensure that such a tragedy never occurs again. The women underwent surgery went with the best intentions - hoping they were doing the right thing for themselves and...
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Women on the Edge of Land and Life -Manipadma Jena
-IPS News SUNDARBANS: November is the cruelest month for landless families in the Indian Sundarbans, the largest single block of tidal mangrove forest in the world lying primarily in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. There is little agricultural wage-work to be found, and the village moneylender's loan remains unpaid, its interest mounting. The paddy harvest is a month away, pushing rice prices to an annual high. For those like Namita Bera,...
More »Exposing Delhi’s air pollution, from the back of an autorickshaw
-AP American scientist Joshua Apte travels in an autorickshaw to present alarming findings for anyone who spends time on or near the roads in this city of 25 million. The autorickshaw lurched through New Delhi's commuter-clogged streets with an American scientist and several air pollution monitors in the back seat. Car horns blared. A scrappy scooter buzzed by belching black smoke from its tailpipe. One of the monitors spiked. Joshua Apte has alarming...
More »Crimes against women in Mumbai up 59% in a year -Nitasha Natu
-The Times of India Mumbai: Crimes against women in Mumbai soared 59% during April 2013 to March 2014 compared with the previous financial year while convictions in serious offences stood at an abysmal 8%. Data compiled by the NGO Praja concludes that understaffing and multiplicity of tasks in the police force are compromising investigation and, in turn, affecting conviction. A third of Mumbai's population feels unsafe living in the city, according to...
More »Jumping the gun in Rajasthan -Kiran Bhatty
-The Hindu Without adequate preparations for its consequences, the State has gone ahead with the merger of small schools with the larger ones. Is there a way out? The Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani's act of consulting an astrologer in Rajasthan may be a personal choice, but her mention of possible amendments to the Right to Education (RTE) Act has definitely created a mess in the State. While she has...
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