2023

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, September 22, 2023
The 33% Illusion : Despite its Passage Women’s Reservation Bill Remains a Mirage
For decades there has been a desire among the forward-looking sections of India’s political elites to promote greater representation of women in Parliament and State legislative bodies. The main idea was the adoption of a system where 33% of all seats in the legislature would be reserved for women, with the hope that this would tilt the social balance and (…)

Millions of indigenous people in the country will now see the beautiful representations of their traditions and cultural artifacts adorned in various museums across the country. At present, there are several such colorful museums. Recently, news appeared that many museums are being established throughout the country with the aim of familiarizing the new generation with the pride of tribal history and giving tourism a new boost in different tribal areas. These museums will preserve and (…)

Millets, as we know, belong to the category of drought-tolerant, nutrient-rich grains primarily grown in arid and semi-arid regions of India and other countries. Due to their high protein, vitamin, and mineral content, millets are considered nutritionally superior to wheat, rice, and other grains.
Consequently, in order to raise awareness about the nutritional and health benefits of millets, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the United Nations have designated 2023 as the (…)

Recently, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has signed MOUs with major Multi-National Companies - Bayer and Amazon. It was stated that the collaboration aims to create innovative solutions for crops, crop protection, weed management, and mechanization that are both resource-efficient and resilient to climate change. Though the association of ICAR with private partners in the fields of agricultural research, and extension services started in the late 1980s with the (…)

Jarva Chauki is a village in Atarra rural area of Banda District (Uttar Pradesh). Several households face a livelihood crisis here and at times lack the minimum food stock needed to keep away hunger. These problems increased after the pandemic-related distress.
To try to ensure that no one remains hungry, a local voluntary organization Vidya Dham Samiti has started a food bank here. As Farida, one of the women who manage this food bank says, “Now any household facing a crisis situation (…)

Unfolding of A Crime Thriller
"It’s on August 11th, the monsoon session of the Indian Parliament had ended. The most significant development, arguably, being the return of Rahul Gandhi — by far the most visible face and audible voice of the anti-regime forces — getting his lost (or cheated?) membership restored with the help of the Supreme Court — his last hope.
The other claimant for the top slot is the eventual discussion on the continuing mayhem in Manipur which sort of forced the (…)

21 Sep 2023
The quest for adequate representation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies is a long pending demand, which India’s founding fathers considered just and necessary.
The Constitution One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth (Amendment) Bill 2023, providing reservation for women in 33% of seats of the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, including the Assembly of Delhi, has been tabled in Parliament. It is a categorical imperative to flag that Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru put (…)

In India, a perplexing paradox prevails; approximately 26% of its population lives trapped in poverty, struggling to afford basic sustenance, even as the country boasts a surplus of food resources. This curious coexistence of hunger and abundance underscores the intricate facets of security that extend beyond mere survival.
The 2022 Global Hunger Index reveals India’s disheartening position at 107th among 121 nations with calculable GHI scores. This ranking contrasts starkly with India’s (…)

It is tradition that contributed in constructing identity of Odiyas and modernity shapes it. Tradition has energy which reflects in intercommunity relations. The best example is this that two individuals belonging to different communities plant peepal tree and offer a feast to village people and create a bond among them. This bond can be called as social capital among diverse castes and communities in Odisha. Social capital turns into active capital which transforms a society and its (…)

Panchayats have been working as local self-government institutions in India since ancient times. The Panchayati Raj is a political system, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. It is one of the oldest systems of local government in the subcontinent, and its first historical mention is dated to the 250 Christian Eera period. The word raj means ‘rule’ and panchayat means ‘assembly’ (ayat) of five (panch or mukhia) elders. These five were supposed to be respected (…)