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Interspecies love in a flood-ravaged Assam village
Systems of co-existence can help in mitigating the human-elephant conflict in the region. Posted on 08 Aug, 2020 03:51 PM

Salmora in Majuli river island in Assam is not any ordinary village. Located on the southeastern corner of the island, surrounded by the mighty Brahmaputra on three sides, this village is remarkable in many ways.

Potters' families belonging to Kumar community of the village make earthen pots (Image: Mitul Baruah)
India-UK team tackles antimicrobial resistance spread in waterways
Experts are joining forces to investigate the impact that releasing antibiotics from antibiotic manufacturing into India’s waterways has on the spread of potentially fatal drug-resistant infections. Posted on 07 Aug, 2020 11:30 AM

An estimated 58,000 babies die in India every year from superbug infections passed on from their mothers, whilst drug-resistant pathogens cause between 28,000 to 38,000 extra deaths in the European Union every year.

The Musi river in Hyderabad, which has high concentrations of antibiotics released from production facilities (Image: Newcastle University)
When solving one problem triggers another
Use of guppy fish to control mosquito populations in water bodies has given rise to another problem - that of its negative impact on native freshwater diversity. Posted on 06 Aug, 2020 06:56 PM

Come monsoons and vector borne diseases start making headlines every year in many parts of India, especially mosquito borne diseases like dengue, malaria, chikungunya and Japanese encephalitis.

What are vector borne diseases

Guppies for mosquito control (Image Source: Rchampagne via Wikimedia Commons)
Migration and the state amid the Covid-19 pandemic
The Covid-19 prompted migration crisis brought India’s inequalities into sharp relief. Posted on 06 Aug, 2020 06:05 PM

Through no fault of their own, migrants were forced to leave the cities after the government imposed a Covid-19 induced national lockdown in late March. After losing their work, fearing they would run out of cash and food they trudged back along with their families to the villages in search of humanity, food, and a place to live.

Migrants contribute enormously to urban society and economy (Image: Pexels)
A third of world’s children poisoned by lead: UNICEF
Urgent action needed to abolish dangerous practices including the informal recycling of lead acid batteries. Posted on 05 Aug, 2020 01:35 PM

Around 1 in 3 children – up to 800 million globally – have blood lead levels at or above 5 micrograms per decilitre (µg/dL), a level that the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stated requires global and regional interventions.

Two girls recycle metal from used batteries at a workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Image: UNICEF/Naser Siddique)
Market linkage could ensure higher returns for farm produce
A study finds out gaps in the way farmer producer organisations are handling their operations and the available infrastructure. Posted on 03 Aug, 2020 06:49 PM

A recent national study on farmer producer’s organisations (FPOs) supported by Tata Trusts investigates gaps looming in business transactions between FPOs and market players and recommends interventions to bridge these.

Red chilli wholesale market at Karnataka (Image: Pxhere, CC0 Public Domain)
Floods in Bihar: Pregnant woman reaches hospital in a tube boat
Amid the rising floods and absence of government help, locals help a pregnant woman reach the hospital using a makeshift boat. Posted on 03 Aug, 2020 01:23 PM

Flood havoc continues to increase in Bihar. Until recently, the effect of flood was only in eight districts across the state but now it has spread to ten districts.

Pregnant woman goes to hospital in flood in a jugaad boat (Source: Umesh K Ray)
Affected by floods, locals resort to chowkis for safety
"People living inside the Kosi embankment get little or no government help that is why we have been doing this jugaad for years during the flood season". Posted on 29 Jul, 2020 05:35 PM

Flood waters inundated the house of Ramchandra Yadav, a resident of Khoknaha village of Supaul, for three days. During these days he cooked food by setting up a brigade on the outpost and spent nights at the same post.

Children taking water from a submerged handpump (Image source: Prabhat Khabar)
Money, migration and missing capital: The case of Uttarakhand
In times of heightened interest in migration and migrants, a lecture deals with key issues underpinning it. Posted on 27 Jul, 2020 10:34 PM

Uttarakhand’s rural areas are marked by massive outflux of people and it is believed that rural migration may alter the state’s political geography.

Village in Uttarakhand (Image: Paul Hamilton; Flickr Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)
NREGA tracker looks at the schemes’ performance
NREGA should move towards becoming an open-ended entitlement that allows every individual to work for at least 200 days, as per PAEG. Posted on 26 Jul, 2020 08:46 PM

As per the findings of an NREGA tracker launched by the People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) the lockdown saw a record spike in jobs under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

Women working on an NREGA site building a pond to assist in farming and water storage. Gopalpura, Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh (Image: UN Women/Gaganjit Singh)
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