-Down to Earth The rate at which informal housing is being destroyed probably far exceeds the rate at which formal housing is being constructed Troubled by the degradation of environment on and around railway tracks, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently directed Delhi government to relocate all illegal settlements along tracks in Delhi. The tribunal reasoned that the residents of these settlements practise open defecation and litter on the tracks. Housing of the...

-Economic and Political Weekly The platform known as the JAM Trinity (an acronym for Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and mobile numbers) may enable a shift from the current Public Distribution System, based on price subsidies, to the direct transfer of benefits. However, it is incorrect to argue that JAM technologies will necessarily lead to the demise of the PDS. State-level experiences of computerisation, recounted here, reveal that the same technologies can...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A survey of Muslim women—victims of triple talaq-- found that 6 out of 10 women were given divorce unilaterally by their husbands. In almost all other cases the divorce was one-sided with the woman informed about it by her relatives, the local Qazi or through sms or e-mail. An earlier study by the NGO Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) had found that 92% of Muslim women...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it would soon join hands with West Bengal, Karnataka, Assam and Tamil Nadu to seek review of its May 13 judgment banning photos of political leaders, except President, prime minister and Chief Justice of India, in government advertisements. In an affidavit filed before the court denying any violation of the May 13 judgment, the information and broadcasting...

-Tehelka As change.org starts its Hindi version, Preethi Herman, who heads the largest online social change portal in the country, speaks to Nikita Lamba about how ordinary people are being empowered to bring about the changes they want to see. * What drove you to start this venture in Hindi considering that the netizens of today’s world use English for communication? The lingua franca of about 47 percent of India’s internet population is...