-Livemint.com A recent large-scale survey on sanitation in India raises more questions than it answers Bengaluru: India has built more toilets over the past two years than it did in the previous five years, if the latest official sanitation survey is to be believed. The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) conducted between November 2017 and March 2018 shows that 75% of rural households in the country have access to toilets, a...

-India Water Portal More than 1000 villages of the state are expected to be affected by a severe water crisis. Lokesh Verma, a farmer from Nainital’s Chanfi village, says this is the third year in a row that he is bearing losses in agriculture. “I have lost around Rs 2 lakh and there’s a debt of Rs 70,000 to pay off. I grow strawberries, guavas and peas in my 15 bighas of...

-The Indian Express Curbing stubble burning is about inducing behavioural changes in farmers. Given that crop residue burning has an environmental footprint and poses health hazards, one needs to be cautious while evaluating the Centre’s policy to mitigate the crisis. But there is also an urgent need for such an evaluation. The Centre has allocated Rs 1,050 crore to the states where crop residue burning poses a pollution hazard. The Union Ministry...

-Firstpost.com In the course of debates on gender-based violence, one aspect that is often hotly discussed is the role of the media in reporting such crimes. While media reporting can play a part in ensuring justice in some cases, it can also at times put the victim or her family at risk, or end up further stigmatising her. For this reason, the media is expected to comply with an array of laws...

-The Hindu Ordinance on rape a knee-jerk reaction, says activists Death penalty for rape of girls upto 12 years will deter the victim and their families from reporting such crimes instead of acting as a deterrent for criminals, said activists who slammed the government for its “knee-jerk reaction” in bringing an ordinance on the issue. “In cases of child sexual assaults we know that most of these crimes are committed by people...