Columns
This is how the government and banks can help farmers, farm labourers, and informal workers
With COVID-19 bringing transportation and market demand to a standstill, farmers may stop hiring farm labourers. Similarly, the future looks bleak for the informal sector workers
Vijay Mahajan
“Pesticide regulation can dramatically reduce the number of non-farm suicides in India”
The Center for Pesticide Suicide Prevention at the University of Edinburgh suggests that banning highly hazardous pesticides could mitigate the number of suicides in India
Aastha Sethi
This is why many Indian children from low-income households struggle with English
Orality — a combination of verbal communication and non-verbal communication — is the key. If children don’t learn to communicate well in early childhood, odds are they will struggle in school
Natasha Joshi
The very purpose of social distancing was defeated when people thronged the streets
Over the last few years, we have regressed. The perfect example of this is the number of messages that were circulating before and after the ‘thali and tali’ fest on March 22
Sanjiv Krishan Sood
The lockdown is revealing the yawning chasm between the urban and rural India
Even in rapidly urbanising India, 69% of the population lives in villages, according to the 2011 Census. But the distribution of health workers and facilities leaves much of rural India in dire straits
Patralekha Chatterjee
Make sure to keep the virus at bay, but don’t ignore your mental health and emotional well-being
Many people are wondering what would be the outcome of this lockdown. Those who live alone are feeling lonelier. People are losing money. It’s important to keep your emotions in check
Shyam Mithiya
Barring a few metropolitan cities, the house sparrow is doing well in rural areas in India
If sparrows enter our homes, it’s because we want them there. I can’t think of any other wild animal which is so missed by people. There was global outrage when the house sparrow started declining
Neha Sinha
We would perhaps value food more if we have to really search for it. Learn from a woodpecker
The tree may not mind the scars the woodpecker leaves; and the woodpecker perhaps does not mind hundreds of attempts before it gets a single insect that bores into the heartwood of a tree
Neha Sinha
Coronavirus scare: India should pay heed as our health system is patchy. India remains vulnerable
The Union Health Minister has said India has remained protected from Coronavirus due to its robust heath surveillance system. But health experts are more cautious in their pronouncements
Patralekha Chatterjee
The Wetlands Day should be celebrated every day as the future of wetlands in India is uncertain
There are still lakhs of wetlands in India but they are disappearing. The banks of the river Yamuna, for instance, were dotted with wetlands which are now getting tapped, dried or filled up