-The Times of India There is good news and bad news on one of the key problems that haunts India - survival of the girl child. Sex ratio at birth, that is, the number of girls born for every 1000 boys born, has inched up from 906 to 909 between 2007 and 2013. This suggests that female feticide, the monstrous practice of killing off the girl baby in the mothers' womb...

-The Hindu It will need a caring partnership between the Dongria Kondh, civil society organisations and the government to figure out how to navigate the very difficult terrain the tribals face Till last week, I'd never visited Niyamgiri, scene of the iconic fight between the Dongria Kondh tribal group and Vedanta, a powerful multinational corporation bent on mining in the area. So why have I titled this ‘revisiting Niyamgiri'? Partly because I've...

-The Times of India JAIPUR (Rajsthan): For the primitive Sahariya adivasis, the panchayat polls may already be over. The only primitive tribe of Rajasthan, Sahariyas reside mainly in the Shahabad and Kishanganj blocks of Baran district. But there is barely a handful amongst them who meet the new educational qualification norms set by the government for contesting the panchayat elections. Recently the state government through an ordinance issued directives that candidates contesting...

-The Hindu The policy also makes denial of health care an offence The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has suggested making health a fundamental right, similar to education. This key proposal in the draft National Health Policy, 2015, suggests making denial of health an offence. Thirteen years after the previous health policy, the draft, now in the public domain for stakeholders' suggestions and comments, has addressed the issues of universal...

-The Hindu Kochi (Kerala): With the tribespeople resorting to e-trading, as many as 14 products are expected to reach the doorsteps of customers across the world through a mouse click. The tribespeople of Chalakudy are trying out e-commerce to find better markets for their exclusive forest produce. With the tribespeople resorting to e-trading, as many as 14 products including forest honey collected from the rain forests of Chalakudy, wild turmeric (kasthoorimanjal) and kallurvanchi,...