Miramar grows a sand dune
GOA’S golden beaches are lined with shanties and
garbage. Sand dunes, once the hallmark of Goa’s
seaside, are disappearing. Everybody agrees
tourism is responsible. Goa has a population of 1.3 million
but it gets 1.6 million tourists every year.
Sand dunes are nature’s first defence against the
mighty sea. Rows of dunes protect the hinterland from
fierce winds and prevent erosion. As sea levels begin to
rise because of global warming, sand dunes will be
needed more than ever.
Read More...
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Activists get ahead with new forest law
THE National Forum of Forest People and
Forest Workers (NFFPFW) has begun
work on implementing a new central
law on forest rights in the hill state of
Uttarakhand though the government is yet
to notify the rules.
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest
Dwellers (Right to Forests) Act has the support
of all political parties but the rules for implementing it have been held up by the
government in deference toconcerns
expressed by wildlife enthusiasts
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Rescuing the little household slave
AFTER her father’s death, five-year-old Sihuli
Kalia was sent by her mother to work at a home
in New Alipore in Kolkata. Sihuli’s job was to
look after a baby, cook, clean and wash for a family
of three. It was decided that her mother would be
paid Rs 200 at an interval of three months or more.
Sihuli’s employers often beat her up. “My mistress even cracked my skull once,” she recalls.
Read More...
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Burma activists seek campus roots
THE dust over September’s Burma protests seems
to have settled.Those peaceful monks, activists,
citizens demonstrating for a democratic Burma
have gone home to wait and watch till the
military junta begins its next crackdown,
you think.
Ask the Burma Solidarity Group which
heads the campaign. For them its business
as usual as they trudge from college to college
lugging banners and posters and lobbying
to garner public opinion. They
would like citizens to change the Indian
government’s neutral policy on Burma.
Read More...
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