Author: Nidhi Baravkar

Universities to take up public welfare programmes with innovative changes to their educational courses. Governor Anandiben Patel on Thursday, while inaugurating Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University’s regional centre in the Juhu area, said universities should start taking public welfare as well as make innovative changes in their educational courses.  Open colleges hold great promise for those with a lack of access to education. The youth requires knowledge, proper training, innovative technology, and skill development, says the governor. Uttar Pradesh is a hub for industrial houses and industrial areas. The youth needs to be trained in fields of skill development,…

The wide gap between the production and consumption of rubber is a concern for the Rubber Board of India. Source: Natural Habitat Adventures Kerala used to be a home for many rubber farmers, who made a living by extracting latex from rubber trees from small plantations. In recent times, the number of such farmers is falling extensively.  Rubber was once the state’s prime cash crop but over the decades, the prices have risen tremendously. Source: waste wise products inc The process of tapping rubber trees is a labour-intensive activity. In the evening or early morning, workers make cuts deep enough…

The stage adaptation of Parsai’s take on Hindi cinema in the 70s, ‘Golden Jubilee’ is an entertaining musical and a celebration of nostalgia. Mumbai’s city-based theatre group ‘D for Drama’ bring us their most ambitious production as they decide to adapt Harishankar Parsai’s ‘Ek Film Katha’ and bring it to life on stage.  The play ‘Golden Jubilee’ is a stage adaptation of Parsai’s satirical take on the Hindi cinema industry of the 70s. It is an entertaining musical that celebrates the nostalgia of the 70s cinema and its stage stars.  Saurabh Nayyar, co-founder of the theatre group and the director…

Environmental change doesn’t only affect physical health, it also affects mental health. There is an increasing acknowledgement that climate change affects not only a person’s physical health but also their mental health. Although there is little research on how it has a cognitive impact.  In 2021, psychotherapist and researcher, Caroline Hickman, a Bath University lecturer, and her colleagues studied data from 10,000 young people between the ages of 16 to 25, living in 10 different countries. About half of those who took part in the test said they felt sad, anxious, helpless, and guilty about climate change. Published in Lancet…

One out of two people, mainly women, suffer through psychological agony, even before the Taliban take over in 2021 Image source: Human Rights Watch A young woman, in her early twenties, tried to end her life the Taliban government restricted female students from attending university. She is now being handled by a psychologist. Most girls in her class have suicidal thoughts and suffer from depression or anxiety, she said. Her words shed light on the less visible yet pressing health crisis facing Afghanistan. An Afghan psychologist says they face a pandemic of suicidal thoughts, but the world rarely thinks or…

Book by political scientists Adam Auerbach and Tariq Thachil, Migrants and Machine Politics, tells us that much of what we think we know is myth, not fact.  In most depictions of Indian slums, they are always shown as these dens of inequality and deprivation, where people are trapped in a whirlpool of desperate needs, utter poverty, poor leadership, and corruption. Politicians and their goons seem to have the last laugh, squeezing out the last of what these people have with no exit option. Image source: UNDP A new book by political scientists, Adam Auerbach and Tariq Thachil, Migrants and Machine…

Salman Rushdie says his new book isn’t the easiest one to write, on account of his being stabbed on stage Image source: BBC ‘The Satanic Verses’ author, Salman Rushdie, suffered a knife stab injury last year while he was on stage delivering a lecture in the U.S. Rushdie talked about his new project at the Hay Literary Festival, where he appeared virtually. He said he is trying to write a book about the attack, how it happened, and what it means. He won’t just write about the attack but also the events surrounding it. He explained that the book will…

Hundreds of midday meal workers from all over Kolkata came together to march for better wages and benefits.  IMAGE COURSE: INDIAN EXPRESS After submitting a deputation to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, midday meal workers marched the streets of Kolkata on Tuesday, demanding better wages and salaries.  Under the banner of the Association of Midday Meal Assistants (AMMA), over a hundred midday meal workers marched from Sealdah to SN Banerjee Road to Esplanade. These workers work from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and get only about Rs. 10 per day. They get no extra benefits or bonuses as well. IMAGE COURSE:…

52% of cultivated land has irrigation facilities for the first time says NITI Aayog. For the first time, more than fifty per cent of India’s cultivated land has the certainty of irrigation as a result of an expansion in micro projects says the 2022-23 official data. From 41% in 2016 to 52% in 2022-23, out of the 141 million hectares of gross sown area, nearly 73 million hectares have irrigation access, says NITI Aayog. The increase in irrigation cover in dryland areas such as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will help alleviate the increasing consequences of drier summers and patchy monsoons…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the 8th NITI Aayog meeting on Saturday in Delhi Image credit: The Statesman On Saturday 27 May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will head the eighth governing council meeting of NITI Aayog. The theme of which is Viksit Bharat @2047: Role of Team India. The meeting is taking place at the new convention centre in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.  PM Modi will conduct the meeting, being the chairman of NITI Aayog. Pm Modi will discuss issues related to health, women empowerment, skill development and infrastructure development, with the aim to make India a developed country…