-Down to Earth Karnataka, Assam and Sikkim registered biggest spike in cases of spousal violence Gender-based violence across most Indian states declined in the past half-a-decade, according to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS). There were, however, several outliers. Karantaka, Assam and Sikkim, for instance recorded a spike in spousal violence cases. In Bihar, the cases of physical violence almost halved during a woman’s pregnancy in the last five years. Factsheets for the...

-Down to Earth Loss of faith in government due to its perceived failure on multiple fronts regarding agrarian issues in the last 11 months have now boiled over Indian farmers have grown more discontented with government policies in the last one year, even as they have produced historic harvests. Their protests have spread to newer regions of the country, records of the last two years show, even as the ongoing protests in...

-Down to Earth Why are farmers protesting the government’s ’reforms’, ask many. A look at how Bihar’s farmers have fared may explain The recent controversy about India’s newly minted farm laws have brought back into focus what Nitish Kumar did a decade-and-a-half ago: Shutting down the mandi (wholesale markets for agricultural produce) system in 2006. The much-touted ‘reform’ has impacted the state’s farmers, and not in a good way. Farmers have had to...

-Down to Earth Investigation into the business of adulteration of honey This story begins in the mustard fields of north India where beekeepers are getting ready for the next honey season. When the yellow flowers are in bloom, the bees suck the nectar and bring us goodness in the form of honey, which we then consume because of its many beneficial properties. We were alerted that beekeepers from this region and other...

-Down to Earth Eviction drives come shortly after the J&K High Court declared the Roshni Act, allowed ownership of occupied government land against a fixed am Nomads of Jammu and Kashmir — mostly from the Gujjar and Bakkarwal communities living in temporary sheds or mud houses in forests and mountains — are being allegedly forcibly evicted by the government. Several videos of hutments being demolished surfaced in November 2020, triggering outrage from...