-Hindustan Times Dhanaura (Bulandshahr): Every Wednesday, until two weeks ago, farmers from Dhanaura, adjoining villages and beyond would sell at least 500 spent (no longer productive) buffaloes to meat traders at this licenced weekly market in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr, about 80 km from Delhi. Not anymore. On March 29, the second Wednesday since the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government launched its crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses, it was not business as usual at...

-The Hindu Several youth collectives in the State are campaigning to make menstruation a hygienic and normal experience for women Her eyes welled over with pain. A victim in her own body, She crawled into a corner, bleeding. ‘Don’t talk about it’, she was told. Haiku #40 by Saurav Harigovind, MES Medical College Don’t. Don’t is the first lesson that a girl newly inducted to womanhood learns. Do not let anyone know that you bleed, especially men....

-The Indian Express Indian farmers are facing multiple crises. Punjab’s case highlights their problems. THE ANSWER TO who will form the next government in Punjab is currently sealed in the ballot boxes. Meanwhile, there are reports that the Election Commission has written to the home minister, reinforcing its demand to make electoral bribery a cognisable offence. But what about the assurances made in election manifestos which promise voters the moon before the...

-The Hindu Electoral reforms announced in the Budget are not what they are claimed to be — they will neither cleanse our politics nor bring transparency Given his interest in cricket, this must be called Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s ‘doosra’. His announcement on electoral reforms in his Budget speech combined an element of surprise, some degree of deception and a sleight of hand — all that go into a doosra in cricket....

-The Tribune Demonetisation didn’t overly impact the sector, but devitalisation is a concern THERE has been a lot of speculation about the extent of damage due to demonetisation on agriculture. Small farmers suffered most because cash in hand means a lot to them. They were unable to pay for inputs like fertilisers, seeds and farm labour and experienced low demand for their perishable produce. The latest data from government’s agricultural ministry however...