In Haryana, which has one of the lowest child sex ratios in the country, researchers have been conducting a longitudinal study on a program to improve gender attitudes among school children. Five years after the intervention, are its positive impacts still sustained? Tarun Jain writes.

The experience of women street vendors during and after the lock-downs shows there is much more India needs to do to ensure that the government's response to crises are bound by checks, and strikes a balance between different vulnerabilities that people face.

Facing an acute shortage of doctors in rural areas, the state government hopes that some of their work could be done by pharmacists instead. But public health advocates are not so sure, and want a number of other steps they believe could be more effective. Sweta Dash reports.

Amidst the gloom of lives that are repeatedly disrupted by erosion, a few farmers are successfully experimenting with horticulture in the heart of the very river that is swallowing their lands. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

The rapid growth of the industry has brought jobs and prosperity to the famed city, but it has also led to harmful impacts on its lakes and hills. Citizens and tourism authorities seek alternatives with greater emphasis on sustainability and conservation. Archana Singh reports.

Adequate attention has not been given to strengthening the government itself in performing key functions, directly or through public authorities. The next set of economic reforms must address this lacuna and direct attention to improving the government's own competence, writes Rakesh Mohan.

With ridership down, DMRC's annual losses, which had already been growing each year, have ballooned. Non-fare revenues are low, and obligations to repay loans are looming. The company has sought the government's help. Sudeshna Roy and Bidisha Chattopadhyay report.

Apart from the loss of their habitat to growing human activity, migratory birds face a new threat from the growing number of renewable energy projects. The Great Indian Bustard, already rarely seen in the country, has seen its numbers drop precipitously. Abhijit Mohanty reports.

The Brahmaputra river has swallowed up large swathes of land repeatedly and forced villagers along its embankments to find new homes and work each time. This has left them in a perpetual struggle to stabilise their lives and livelihoods. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.

The Constitution recognises the threat of private discrimination, and prohibits it in its text. But what's the right principle to detect it? Thulasi K Raj argues for the principle of 'public service', which goes further than linguistic and other interpretations of Article 15(2).

Immunity conferred from natural infection and vaccines, patterns of social contact, and virus transmissibility will all play a role in what COVID-19 will look like as it continues to circulate in the months and years ahead, says Yonatan Grad.

A research study finds that many landowners around forests would set aside some lands in exchange for payments. Some see this as a promising conservation strategy, but others believe more nuance is needed in presenting such choices, else they would not work. Rishika Pardikar reports.

Repeated pandemic-induced lockdowns and curfews have been a golden opportunity for wildlife traffickers targeting termite-eating pangolins and other endangered species in Simlipal National Park and adjacent districts. Abhijit Mohanty reports.

Huge backlogs in the justice system have prompted judges to look for ways to speed things up. The Supreme Court has twice pointed fingers at long and repetitive oral arguments, which increase the time spent on each case while others remain pending.

Formal city planning processes do not recognise the lived realities of people adequately. By listening to residents, and understanding the needs that have driven them to organic solutions, it is possible for Master Plans to be a lot more inclusive, writes Marina Joseph.

For economic as well as environmental reasons, there is talk of shutting old coal plants. The decision is neither straightforward nor uniform. A nuanced view is needed to select the ones to close, and more importantly to stop too many new ones coming up, say Ashok Sreenivas and Maria Chirayil.

Millions of women migrate each year, but their reasons for moving are not the same as men's, and their chances of finding and keeping work are much lower. A gendered understanding of migrants is needed in policies and intervention programs. Shikha Sharma reports.

Odisha's Livelihood Mission promotes local gardens to help adivasi families find food security. In the process, these gardens also improve nutrition levels, and provide additional incomes whenever there is surplus produce. Abhijit Mohanty reports.

Erratic monsoon patterns and other disruptions by climate change are reducing the number of fishing days in the waters of coastal Kerala. Small-scale fishers are quitting, and looking for other livelihood options to support their families. K V A Khadar reports.