Letters - December 15, 2012

Leave Them Alone This is with reference to the article, “Tourism in Jarawa buffer, officially” (November 16-30, 2012). The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been home to several distinct tribes for tens of thousands of years. But the administration, first the British and later the Indian government, brought nothing but disaster for the tribes. Only the Sentinelese tribe remains untouched by the devastation due to their isolated location and aggressive behaviour towards outsiders.

Art attack

In Swaziland’s schools, art programmes are considered unaffordable luxuries. But one school has broken from the pack and is using art to improve academic performance of children, reports IRIN.

Letters - July 31, 2012

Backdoor trade The write-up, “Death on mounds of a bumper crop” (July 1-15, 2012), is a realistic analysis of farmers’ woes in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. I have quit my corporate life to start farming. When I reached Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh in May, I saw many people making temporary shelters on their tractors or heaps of wheat and waiting outside procurement centres.

A nine-year-old’s revolt

A Scottish local authority has overturned a ban on a schoolgirl’s food blog after public protest. In early May, Martha Payne, who lives in Argyll and Bute council area, some 200 km from Edinburgh, began taking photos of the uninspiring lunches provided by her school canteen and posting them on her blog, NeverSeconds.

Bad boy phthalate implicated in eczema in children

Phthalates are virtually the gang leaders among chemicals that impair health. They are known to cause reproductive problems and alter hormone functioning. Now these group of chemicals, commonly found in toys, furniture and medical devices like intravenous bags, have been linked to eczema in children.

Children once again

Education policy for kids under six

The Centre has unveiled a new policy aimed at holistic development of children under six, a group which has so far been ignored by policy makers.

Focus on nutrition of children with HIV: child rights commission

The government programmes for children suffering from HIV/AIDS should move from medicine-centric approach to include nutrition and preventive care, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has recommended. In its recently released report ‘Rights and entitlements of children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS 2010-11’, the organisation also advocated provisions for issuing BPL cards to children who have lost their parents due to HIV/AIDS to ensure minimum food security and nutritional support. The report was put on the website of NCPCR in March.

Gasping millions

LIKE A FISH out of water, she chokes and gasps. Writhes. She struggles to snatch a lungful of air, while watching television she suddenly hits a vacuum. She is asthmatic. She is just about anybody. One of the 150 million that are reminded the hard way that life in today's world is just a breath away from turning into a statistical entry in the death register.

Owning the road

When roads become an extension of living rooms