Kicking up a stink

Become iron woman, eat veggies

No two-finger test for rape

IN the aftermath of protests against the Delhi gang rape case in December last year, the Union health ministry has drafted a new pro forma for forensic medical examination and treatment of sexually assaulted victims. The pro forma, issued in mid-March, has done away with the controversial two-finger test done by doctors to know the sexual history of the victim. The test, in which two fingers are inserted into the vagina to know its laxity, was being used as evidence against the victim by sugge sting she is “habituated to sex”.

Women and a nervous regime

Wake up and smell the air

Our health is not on anybody’s agenda. Or, we just don’t seem to make the connections between the growing burden of disease and the deteriorating condition of our environment. We don’t really believe the science, which tells us each passing day how toxins affect our bodies, leading to high rates of both morbidity and mortality.

Women interrupted

Scare tactics

Science and Technology - Briefs

GEOLOGY Fault finding “Stable” zones of the earth’s crust might not be so stable. These zones are more likely to cause massive earthquakes. It was thought that “stable” zones, where fault segments of the crust slip slowly, act as barriers to earthquakes and fast-slipping faults trigger them.

Letters - February 15, 2013

Cheer, Don’t jeer It is disheartening to see people like Sunil Dhingra criticise the great service Husk Power Systems (HPS) is providing (‘Powered by husk’, November 16-30, 2012). Small off-grid biomass power plants have lesser transmission and distribution losses and are much more successful than big grid-connected plants that are failing across the country.

Letters - November 30, 2012

Think Small