The recent nod to Telangana has led to unrest and violence anew in Assam, where several groups have been struggling for their respective states for decades. Ratna Bharali Talukdar looks at the current situation in the context of the long and checkered movements for statehood in the region.

Eco-friendly disposable plates and bowls made from sheaths of the abundant areca nut plant in rural Assam hold great promise for a lucrative industry with global reach. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports on the enterprise.

The ruling government has seen limited success in some areas, but the state's lingering needs seem to have been forgotten in the war of personalities ahead of the looming parliamentary elections. Ratna Bharali Talukdar has more.

Should foreign immigrants in Assam enjoy Indian citizenship as outlined by the Assam Accord and endorsed by Section 6A of the Citizenship Act? Tanvi Bhatikar reports on a recent court ruling that focuses on these questions.

An inspiring account of Malini Chib, disability rights activist and author, who talks about how she got around to developing a strong disability identity that she wants to “celebrate” rather than reject.

Despite being feted as a huge success, the flagship programme of the government for the universalisation of primary education leaves much to be desired. Ironically, the easy availability of the funds for a supposedly successful scheme may be preventing it from being as productive as it could otherwise be. Kalpana Misra reports.

Narnaul illustrates above all the value of investing in women. Many have continued to be active and involved even though they have little practical support from the Municipal Council, writes Kalpana Sharma.

In its Common Minimum Programme the UPA government promised to tackle unemployment. In September a draft Rural Employment Guarantee Act was put together by the National Advisory Council. Now, however, it appears that vital portions of that draft are likely to be diluted before the legislation is tabled in Parliament.

Several cases of starvation deaths have been reported in Orissa, especially in areas with high tribal populations. Added to this, government inaction in response to the crisis deepens people's woes. Arpan Tulsyan reports.

Pushpa Achanta writes about the challenges and aspirations of people in Kashmir on Kashmiri Women’s Day of Resistance which is observed today.

In brothels of West Bengal, there is high awareness of the risk to HIV. Women are not taking any chances. Response to the newly introduced female condom is picking up. Sumita Thapar reports.

While agreeing with General S Padmanabhan who says in his recent book that "politicisation of the military is a self defeating exercise in a democracy," it is difficult to concede that "greed for fish and loaves of office" is how the politician would corrupt the military establishment and wrench it from its apolitical moorings, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Reading former CAG Vinod Rai’s autobiography Not Just an Accountant, Himanshu Upadhyaya feels that it is less about the individual and more about a constitutionally-mandated authority’s sustained efforts to uphold transparency in the face of concerted attempts by the powerful to thwart the same.

Sunanda Bhat’s award-winning Have You Seen The Arana is deeply relevant in today’s world, as it explores the deep connectedness between man and nature, and the struggle of little-known people to preserve it in the face of many onslaughts. Shoma A Chatterji reviews the film.

Rahul Bedi says declining vulture numbers have triggered serious public health problems.

Shipra Saxena on Midnapore's strides in implementing a government and UNICEF sponsored rural sanitation scheme, in West Bengal.

Are tax-payer funded programmes for the empowerment of the disabled working? Until very recently, New Delhi has not even had reliable data to plan its programmes. Himanshu Upadhyaya digs into the 2004 Comptroller and Auditor General report.

Who can object to washing hands regularly to improve hygiene? In Kerala, the World Bank found out that it isn't enough to promote sensible messages; it's also important that the messages do not appear to be based on ulterior motives, like sales for MNC products. Darryl D'Monte reports.

Since 1988, SANCHAR has worked to improve the lives of the disabled in rural West Bengal. And with the increasing resources available by law to assist the handicapped now, SANCHAR is working to make sure panchayats tap into these to help their community. Rina Mukherji reports.

24 June 2005 - Sanu Ghosh was around one and a half years old when a visit to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata to treat an attack of pneumonia saw him diagnosed as a patient of cerebral palsy. But then, his daily wage-earning parents from the rural outskirts of the city could hardly have been expected to arrange for the necessary rehabilitation of their little son. Fortunately for them, the Society for Appropriate Rehabilitation for the Disabled (SANCHAR) traced him out when he was four, and even detected a hip dislocation that nobody had noticed until then. Today, not only does Sanu attend school, but can manage to seat himself there, thanks to a chair designed by SANCHAR. A similar contraption for his home enables him to manage his daily domestic chores. At school, he uses his mouth to hold a pencil to write, and can read and write nearly as well as any child of his age.

Arup Sani was struck with polio at the age of three, resulting in the impairment of his left leg and right hand. The son of daily wage earning parents belonging to Krishnarampur village in South 24-Parganas, Arup was adopted by SANCHAR when seven years old. The provision of calipers and crutches under the government's scheme enabled Arup to attend the village primary school. Arup is now 19, and studying at the higher secondary level. He is not only getting educated, but also teaching three hearing impaired children from the neighbouring village. Besides, Arup is helping a visually challenged child, Mafijul, studying in the second grade, as a writer during the latter's exams.

It is certainly welcome that the government now recognises unsafe motherhood as a serious development concern. But the plans to tackle this are unimaginative, and ignore many realities of health care for women in rural areas, especially in the poorer states, writes Abhijit Das.

The central government wants to ban the sale of non-iodised salt on grounds of rising iodine deficiency. However, states with notable rise in deficiency are those where a ban has already been in force for the past two decades – the north-eastern states and Uttar Pradesh. P Venu, an Assistant Salt Commissioner in Gujarat, connects the dots.

Recently, there has been renewed stress on compulsory iodisation, with the central government attempting to bring back a national ban on non-iodised salt. But the nature and comprehensiveness of research into iodine deficiency has never made a categorical case for a ban, finds Aparna Pallavi.

While it is nobody's case that iodised salt should be pushed out of the Indian market, what concerns many people's groups is the one-sided way in which iodisation is being imposed on the people of India. Aparna Pallavi concludes a two-part series into New Delhi's interest in banning non-iodised salt.

Public expenditure on health care today is a dismal 0.9% of GDP; the overwhelming majority of health costs are paid by patients out of pocket. For many, even minor illnesses can cause big financial setbacks, and hospitalisation is out of the question. As a result, the promise of the Bhore Committee's vision is in shambles, writes Arati Rao.

In a number of villages in Sheopur district, Madhya Pradesh, children have been dying since 2006 because of chronic malnutrition, prompting Supreme Court commissioners to call the region one of the world's malnutrition hotspots. Running schools, nutritious food, and health camps are all a rarity here, reports Sachin Jain.

India's attitude to condoms and contraception is worrisome at a time when promiscuity has a stamp of approval. Condom manufacturers are pitching pleasure enhancement in their ads, instead of being direct about the protection against AIDS. Charumathi Supraja reports.

India's progress on ensuring water and sanitation for all its citizens is painfully slow; indeed, the country now lags neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh on this front, and a long road still remains to be travelled. Darryl D'Monte reports on a recent meet to discuss the challenges.

From drum beating at markets to using helicopters, Tripura has been making rapid strides in its immunisation programme, pushing this important health care intervention among tribal as well as non-tribal mothers and children. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

The heavy rains of the south-west monsoon are a few weeks away and malaria usually follows, in Assam. The state has 20 per cent of malaria deaths in India, but this time, doctors say they have taken substantive measures. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

India has ratified the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but done very little to protect the rights of the disabled in accordance with it. Freny Manecksha reports.

The child sex ratio continues to follow the worsening trend established over four decades ago. Demographers predict that India's population will remain overly masculine for decades. Kannan Kasturi reports.

Attention to international benchmarks, awareness of rights and proactive provision of basic facilities could make train journeys a less stressful experience for physically challenged passengers in the country, says Malini Shankar in the second part of her series.

Did you know a cell phone in a moving car emits significantly greater radiation, half of which could be absorbed by the brain while talking? A renowned epidemiologist from the US warns users of this and other cell-phone related hazards in the course of her recent talks in India. Darryl D’Monte reports.

With a recent drug sample report confirming the presence of rat poison in medicines administered to Chhattisgarh’s hapless tubectomy victims, it is yet another wake-up call for India to address the threats posed by its $4.25-billion fake drugs market. Tanvi Bhatikar bares some stark facts.

As the country boils over in outrage against Nestle following the detection of dangerous levels of lead in its popular Maggi brand, Sarika Agarwal takes an objective look at the possible real sources of contamination and the core issues related to food safety.

Unnecessary tests, forced hospitalisations to meet the targets set for employed physicians, and the infamous but real ‘sink test’: the shocking realities in the private healthcare sector are many, as Pavan Kulkarni finds out at a panel discussion on the issue. Is more regulation the need of the hour?

The focus on ending open defecation and ensuring a toilet in every home is a limited one. Lasting success will require a much larger focus on sanitation, writes Aditya Bhol.

The Comptroller and Auditor General performance audit of the social welfare schemes for Persons with Disabilities run by the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Delhi, covering the years from 2009 to 2014, which got tabled recently brought forth some shocking facts, writes Himanshu Upadhyaya.

Handing out non-biodegradable sanitary pads to rural school girls who have reached menarche will not address their menstrual hygiene issue. Clean and functional toilets with water supply, awareness about menstruation, economical and biodegradable pads and more is needed, finds Puja Awasthi.

Sanitary conditions in most of the slum areas in Assam are abysmal. Ignorance about cleanliness, lack of water supply and proper working toilets, absence of covered drainage and sewage, and no action from the local and state government are to be blamed for the mess, reports Nilotpal Bhattacharjee.

The majority of civil fire incidents happen due to lack of clear laws and a blatant disregard for existing rules and regulations, assert Harminder Kaur and Bhargavi S Rao. The authors look at the Karnataka situation.

The Karnataka Governor, T N Chaturvedi, recently asked the state government for an explanation on why the state wants the central government to clear the Dandeli dam on the river Kali. This, in light of the fact that state government departments had themselves recommended and shelved the project earlier. An India Together report.

When a teacher specially trained to handle children with special needs started work at a local government school in Bangalore, children were benefited and stopped dropping out. Padmalatha Ravi has more.

A 3-acre pond dug in the Yenepoya Medical College 15 kms from Mangalore is catching run-off from about 15 acres of the campus and from an equal area of their neighbourhood. It has already saved the institution a substantial sum on getting water from outside. Shree Padre reports.

It was 25 years ago this month when villagers in Karnataka undertook an eight-kilometre-long trek to resist massive tree-felling at the Kalase forests. In today's milieu, the Appiko movement is facing fresh challenges, writes Sudhirendar Sharma.

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 •  Printer friendly version 10 September 2008 - If your journey along the west coast still remains picturesquely green, thank the chants that had rented the air of this region 25 years ago, and which seemingly echo even today. Chanting the Kannada slogan of Ulisu, Belasu and Balasu, meaning ‘save, grow and sustain’, the forest-loving people of Uttara Kannada - the most green district in the country – stood up against the tyranny of the state that was clearing the native forests to pave way for monoculture plantations.

The 25-year-long journey

In recent times, Ganesh Utsav festivities in Pune have adapted to environmental concerns, says Rasika Dhavse.

What does it say about our priorities when a rescue team trying to get help to victims of a landslide has to destroy other homes to reach them? Citizens might be resilient during natural disasters, but this isn't spirit; to find that we have to look elsewhere, and at other times, says Dilip D'Souza.

A systematic, participatory effort to map and understand the need for sanitation in Sangli's slums has helped Shelter Associates bring about a change in the mindset of civic officials and residents alike. Its director, Pratima Joshi believes this is a model that can be replicated in many other cities. Rasika Dhavse reports.

A pilot privatisation effort in Mumbai's K East ward ignores the lessons from other such efforts, both in India and elsewhere. Worse still, proponents of privatisation show little regard for public particiaption, and reject other options at the outset. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.

Pune-based firm Neeti Solutions has designed a unique version of the popular game Snakes and Ladders, aimed at teaching children about fires and earthquakes and how to cope best in such situations. Rasika Dhavse has more.