Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from February, 2019

Whither Tobacco Free Gujarat campaign? State’s performance vs other states

By Rajiv Shah  Has Gujarat faltered in the fight against tobacco vis-à-vis other states? It would seem so, despite the data suggesting the percentage of men and women using “some form of tobacco” (smoking cigarettes, bidis, cigars, pipe, hookah, chewing paan with tobacco, using gutkha or paan masala with tobacco, using khaini, using usoing snuff etc.) have come down considerably. The National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) data for 2015-16, released a year ago, suggest that 51 per cent of men and seven per cent of women in the age group 15-49 “use some form of tobacco”, which is seventh highest among 21 major Indian states. A similar household survey held a decade earlier (NFHS-3), which took place in 2005-06, suggested that 10 per cent more men (60%) used “some form of tobacco”. As for women, in 2005-06, the tobacco use was found to be eight per cent. However, at that time, as many as nine other major states out of 19 for which survey results have been obtained had a higher percent o

Depression remains stigmatised due to enforced silence, social isolation

By Moin Qazi* Among the many challenges India faces, the most underappreciated is the ongoing mental health crisis. Mental illness is actually India’s ticking bomb. An estimated 56 million Indians suffer from depression, and 38 million from anxiety disorders. For those who suffer from mental illness, life can seem like a terrible prison from which there is no hope of escape; they are left forlorn and abandoned, stigmatized, shunned and misunderstood. Particularly worrying is the intensity of mental disorders in the adolescents. Half of all mental illness starts by the age of 14, but most cases go undetected and untreated. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds.depression is the third leading item in the burden of disease among adolescents Fortunately, there is a growing from the earliest ages, in order to cope with the challenges of today’s world. The pathetic state of mental health care in the country coupled with government’s apathy is a cause of g

India’s invisible water wizard's unique borewell recharge technique

By Moin Qazi* India has long undervalued one of its most precious resources—water. Today the country’s chronic mismanagement of water has led to drought in nearly 2,00,000 villages. According to the World Bank data, Indian farmers use almost 70 percent of the total groundwater that is drawn in the country each year. Shockingly, India uses more groundwater annually than China and the United States combined. Due to this massive overuse, groundwater levels are being depleted all over the country by an average of 0.3 metres per year. Traditional water harvesting techniques have been employed for nearly 1,500 years to conserve water for cultivation. These systems continue to remain viable and cost-effective alternatives for replenishing depleted groundwater aquifers. This traditional knowledge and wisdom, however, have been abandoned in the race to embrace new technologies which have upset the ecological system. With government support, these systems could be revived, upgraded and productiv

Why can’t Govt of India disclose Cabinet note, materials on 10% quota?

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers will remember, in January 2019, Parliament approved the Central Government’s proposal to reserve 10% of the seats in educational institutions and posts in jobs in the public sector, for the economically weaker segments of society (10% quota law). The Union Cabinet is said to have approved the proposal to amend the Constitution in this regard on the 7th of that month. It was tabled in the Lok Sabha on the 8th, debated and passed the same day. The Rajya Sabha gave its approval after a debate on the 9th. The Hon’ble President of India gave his assent to this Bill four days later on 12th January. This legislation was notified as The Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 in the Official Gazette, the same day. On 14th January, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment issued a Gazette notification stating that the law had come into force. A path-breaking proposal to amend the Constitution for providing reservations in educational i

Despite dangers, booming $3 billion e-cigarettes business may invade India

By Rajiv Shah Four-and-a-half years after India declared its “intention” to ban e-cigarettes, considering them as risk to public health, especially the non-smoking youths (click HERE ), following the World Health Organization (WHO) in August 2014 seeking “stiff regulation” across the world, its “booming” $3 billion global market appears all set to dangerously invade India. The Union ministry of health and family welfare, in October 2014 had called e-cigarettes, which use battery-powered cartridges to produce a nicotine-laced vapor, a “backdoor entry” to health risk, because has nicotine, pointing out that expert panels have already recommended regulation or a ban. The ministry view came after e-cigarettes, imported and sold by small firms, began being sold by India’s largest cigarette maker, ITC. Meanwhile, over more than four years, they are available on online stores, including on Amazon India , Electronic Cigarette India and Vapour India . In fact, four-and-a-half years on, all th

Judicary must investigate Vadodara riverfront project’s environment clearance

Vadodara’s 40 concerned citizens* write to Gujarat chief secretary; principal Secretary, Urban Development and Urban Housing Department; Member Secretary, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority; and Municipal Commissioner, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, seeking independent judicial inquiry headed by a retired High Court Judge to investigate the Vishwamitri Riverfront Development Project Environment Clearance Application and its withdrawal, ultimately leading to the withdrawal of the project: The ‘Vishwamitri Riverfront Development Project” (VRDP) was propagated by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation since 2008 and the hoardings of the same are still displayed on the city streets. A Feasibility Report Master Plan dated 16.12.2014 “Vishwamitri Riverfront Development Project: Presentation to Advisory and Technical Committee” for the VRDP was prepared by the consulting firm, HCP Design, Planning & Management Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad. The Application for Environment Clearance (EC) fo