Why pesticide deaths will continue As many as 50 persons died and around 1,000 were hospitalised with 25 losing their vision after exposure to chemical fumes from spraying of pesticides in Yevatmal district of Maharashtra. Most of those affected were farm labourers who neither had any safety apparatus nor were guided on the ideal way to use the pesticides. These cases hence were unlike intentional intake of the pesticide by... |
Law of the land: Tweaked and Twisted Land acquistion was at the centre stage till two years back due to controversial changes introduced by the NDA government in the legislation. While the proposed amendments are currently on hold, several states have brought about similar changes through Rules under Section 109 of the Act or have enacted their own state-level land acquisition laws to tide over opposition. |
Women Reservation: The long haul With Congress president Sonia Gandhi asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get the law on women reservation passed in the Parliament, the issue has gained momentum again. Though major political parties, including BJP, Congress and the Left, have always supported reservation, several smaller and regional parties found it incomplete and inefficient in dealing with unequal status of women.... |
When forest guards wield the camera The short documentary shifts the gaze of an adventure tourist to that of someone who lives the jungle. Shot by two forest guards of Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh, it offers the exquisite close ups of the magic called nature, including 3 months of trap camera footage of various animals in action. But more than that it shows us the people who monitor our protected areas. |
Watch this video to know why Aadhaar is under scanner The unique identitification programme, popularly known as Aadhaar, has generated lot of heat due to security and privacy concerns. A larger bench of the Apex Court is still examining whether intrusive aspects of unique identification encroaches upon citizen’s right to privacy. This video tells you about the claims and counterclaims of the system. |
India @70: Take politics out of governance As India celebrates 70th Independence Day, it stands as a polarised country. Divided on political lines with little room for tolerance to opposite view point. The sanctity of an elected post is often ignored and seen an extension of political affiliation. Political parties thrive and grow at the cost of Indian democracy and help in promotion of an organised lobby of selfish people. The spirit of the Constitution demands that good people... |
Why the rapes never stop In 2012, the Delhi gangrape incident, in which a physiotherapy student was gangraped and tortured in a private bus, brought the issue of rape onto discussion platforms, street protests and also pushed the government to come up with stronger policy and law on crime against women. Ever after five years, however, we are an unsafe nation for women. In fact, the situation is only worsening. The data from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows... |
India debates if privacy can be a fundamental right A nine-judge Constitution bench is examining whether privacy is a fundamental right. The bench was formed in response to petitions challenging government orders that made Aadhaar mandatory. The petitions had right to privacy as one of the arguments. While petitioners claim that right to life and liberty inherentily include right to privacy, government believes it's more of a social notion like 'pursuit of happiness' and should not be a legal... |
‘Rare diseases policy will help 70 million patients in India’ Around 70 million patients, mostly children, living with rare diseases in India have something to cheer about as the Union government has formally recognised their existence and formed a policy to address diagnostic and treatment gaps There are over 7,000 rare diseases in the world of which only 450 have been identified through reported cases in India. Most of these diseases go undiagnosed... |
India needs to be cautious on free trade pact with ASEAN India relies on regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP), a proposed free trade agreement with ASEAN members and the five states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs. Despite the impressive prospects the gains for India may not be as significant as assumed and may lead to dumping of cheaper imports which will hamper domestic producers. |
