Columns
For tribal communities of Nuapada in Odisha, it’s a long road to community forest resource rights
During the acute drought of 1965, it is the forests and forest produce, such as tubers, that prevented villagers in Nuapada from dying of hunger. A large number of tribal and forest dwelling communities in the district are now fighting to get their community rights under the FRA, 2006.
Chinmaya Sunani
Draft Trafficking in Persons Bill: A beacon of hope?
Today is ‘World Day against Trafficking in Persons’. Recently, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development published the draft Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021, which is a step in the right direction. However, there is a need to add more provisions in the bill in order to strengthen it and make it more meaningful.
Subhasree Raptan
Tigers often embark upon long journeys through farms, forests and settlements. It’s crucial for the species’ survival
Today is International Tiger Day and dispersal is integral to the life history of tigers. But several factors, including infrastructure projects, fragment tiger corridors thus impeding tiger movement. Maintaining habitat connectivity to enable dispersal is arguably the most pressing imperative for tiger conservation today.
Pranav Chanchani
Tribal villagers in Odisha’s Sukinda eat chromite dust; govt builds stadiums and playgrounds with musical fountains using mining funds
Over 98% of India’s chromite reserve is found in the Sukinda region of Odisha where water, air and land is highly contaminated due to chromite mining and the local Adivasis suffer its impact. Despite large funds collected in the state under the District Mineral Foundation, money is being used to build an international hockey stadium and recreation facilities.
Bijaya Biswal
Even tigers get lonely, like RBT38 did, and head back to Ranthambore
In 2012, a young male tiger, RBT38, ventured out of Ranthambore looking to establish a home of his own. A couple of years later, he returned to Ranthambore to mate. But, in the last three years, tigers from Ranthambore have dispersed and bred outside the park. These are promising signs for the recovery of this isolated tiger population across northwestern India.
Prameek Kannan
Increased vulnerability to hunger and malnutrition in tribal communities of Jharkhand due to COVID19 pandemic
Despite the state government launching several initiatives, such as Mukhya Mantri Didi Kitchen, helplines for migrant workers and a 100-day job guarantee scheme for urban unskilled workers, Jharkhand needs to do a lot more to improve its performance on nutrition that has taken a hit in the pandemic.
Neha Saigal
The growing menace of antibiotic pollution by pharma hubs needs urgent attention
Pharmaceutical hubs in the country are becoming a source of environmental pollution as they release effluents heavily loaded with antibiotic residue that degrade water and soil health, and affect human health. The Baddi-Barota-Nalagarh pharma hub in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, is one such hotspot.
Dr Bishwanath Prasad Singh
Artificial intelligence is aiding doctors manage stroke patients in rural India
In India, more than 4,000 people develop stroke every day, with a case fatality rate of up to 42%. A new artificial intelligence (AI) technique adopted by a hospital in Tezpur is helping doctors provide timely medical attention to patients in rural Assam.
Dr Justy Antony Chiramal
Why it is important to learn from Bihar’s APMC abolition in 2006
Before the Central government looks at implementing the three farm laws passed last year, it should study the lessons learnt by Bihar — both its first mover advantage and the disadvantages it faced.
Saheli Das
3% of India’s tribal population suffers from sickle cell anemia, another 23% is it carrier
Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disorder that cannot be cured but only be treated. Proper interventions, modern treatments and therapy of tribal communities in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, have been found to lessen the disease burden over a period of time.