Elusive hunt for skills and jobs

Finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram had a rousing theme in this year’s budget: the youth.

Impatient to sterilise

Young women, most in their 20s, lie on the floor like corpses at a community health centre (CHC) in Bikaner’s Kolayat block in Rajasthan. Flies hover over the bandages on the fresh wounds they received after undergoing operation for sterilisation. As they lie unconscious on a thin mat spread on the floor, relatives use cardboard pieces to fan themselves, and at times the patients. With temperature lingering close to 40°C, one cooler in the room is insufficient. Small children play with their slippers and feeding bottles and other belongings close to their mothers.

Genocidal attitude

Last month when Feng Jianmei, 27, said she would not be able to pay a fine of around US $6,300 as required under the Chinese law for having a second child, birth control authorities took her to hospital and forced to have an abortion. Feng already has a daughter.

Science and Technology - Briefs

Health sciences Shrink the tumour Basal cell nevus syndrome is a genetic condition that can cause dozens, even thousands, of skin cancers known as basal-cell carcinomas all over the body. The current treatment is frequent surgery, which can result in scarring. Scientists have now found that a recently approved drug, Erivedge (vismodegib), can keep the cancer at bay.

Letters - April 15, 2012

Authority to fight hunger

Dhamaal Growth

At one point in the epic Mahabharata, the pandavs and kauravs go to warfare school. Amid thick forests, they train hard. Then, the time comes when they must leave. Yudhister, the eldest pandav, gifts the space as guru dakshina to his guru, Dronacharya.

Battle zone: Humans vs elephants

West By Far East

Remember the cartoon of the European explorer in North America, waving an axe to clear forests while moving towards the west coast a few centuries ago? The slogan "exploring the west" in China has a similar ring in the ear. China now has its eyes fixed upon its wild, barren and mysterious west. The changes in these parts are likely to be dramatic in the coming two decades.

Is the joyride over ?

It's been 50 years since politicians have been mouthing the slogan: Jai jawan, jai kisan (Long live soldiers, long live farmers). Now it has started to sound like a raucous chant, at least to the farmers struggling to survive. They till the soil harder, increase their spending to replenish their patch of land, but nothing helps. It is the marriage between science and farming practices that has failed. The more they try to revive it, the more they get mired in the labyrinth.

High Altitude Dilemma

On the road to destiny The tradition-bound Himalayan kingdom readies itself to brace modernism