Tribals in trouble

WHEN GUJJAR Zahur Hussain got into a trifling argument with a forestry official who was on his way to a temple in the Rajaji National Park, little did he expect what followed. That evening the official -- a deputy director of the park -- came to Hussain's hut accompanied by forest guards, thrashed Hussain and his pregnant wife and set fire to their hut.

SEWA helps working women gain confidence

THE GROWTH of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) is an inspiring story of an unique organisation combining within its ambit labour unions, workers' cooperatives, and a bank. Its members are women working in the "informal" sector, such as ragpickers, vendors and hawkers, bidi rollers and quiltmakers.

Beating the heat

A dry winter followed by the highest temperatures recorded in February in the north Indian plains in the past six decades led to fears in state agricultural departments that rabi crop yields would be cut drastically. Wheat, gram, pea, barley and mustard - the traditional winter crops grown in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh - all need low temperatures for a good yield.

Brushing aside environmental costs

ISRAEL'S citrus industry, part of its drive to "make the desert bloom", is a spectacular success story with export earnings in the US $150-250 million range, depending on the quality and quantity of the crop. But, increasingly, critics complain the citrus industry is exporting in effect the country's most precious natural resource -- subsidised water.

Ban without teeth

UNION minister of state for science and technology P R Kumaramangalam remains unperturbed about Washington's reported intention to ban permanently the transfer of technology to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Polluting unit in Rajasthan gets clean chit

THE PESTICIDES India Limited (PIL) factory in the Khempura area of Udaipur is the focus of a pollution controversy that some believe is now assuming political overtones.

Seeking ways to quench Delhi's growing thirst

SUPPLYING running water to about 19 lakh households in Delhi is fast becoming an impossible task. Various administrative and political bodies concerned with water supply management are in desperate search of means to meet the growing demand.

Dwindling tree cover dilates storm havoc

THE CYCLONE that struck southern India in October-November 1992 caused unusually extensive damage in Kanniyakumari district. The area was lashed daily by winds of 80 km per hour and 10-15 cm of rain. There were landslides, and major roads, railway tracks, bridges and houses in the district were washed away. Water in the swollen rivers turned red with silt.

Gepgraphical Spread

GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD

Peasant women list their woes to scientists

SALINE and degraded soils, inadequate water, poor quality seeds and the lack of means to own land -- these are the main problems that Indian peasant women face. And this conclusion was arrived at not by agrarian economists or bureaucrats, but by peasant women from the villages of north India.