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Dear Reader,
Environment versus development has been a critical debate of our times. With the government set to fast forward the Ken-Betwa Link Project, an effort to connect the Ken and Betwa rivers in the dry and drought-ridden Bundelkhand, the debate has once again reared its head.
Those vouching for the project say it will irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares of land and provide drinking water to over 6 million. However, the naysayers question the very feasibility of the project, its impact on climate, its aftermath on the Panna Tiger Reserve - 10 per cent of whose core area will be submerged - and the issue of resettlement of the displaced. ThePrint travels to Bundelkhand to bring us both sides of the debate.
The fifth round of the National Family Health Survey, which provides information on population, health, and nutrition in India and its states reveals that one-fourth of women aged between 20 and 24, were reported to have been married before 18.
This is when the government is seeking to amend the law to raise the legal age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21, in a bid to stem child marriages. However, it has been argued that the step may, in fact, prove counter-productive. India Development Review analyses the state of affairs and suggests steps that might be more effective.
Article 14 reports that what was touted as landmark legislation in Rajasthan – The Social Accountability Bill, a first of its kind in India, has been seemingly put on the back burner, two years after the draft was circulated. The bill seeks to hold government officials accountable by providing for their social auditing by members of independent bodies, public hearings on delivery, and expenditure tracking.
And, in an exclusive, MediaNama reports on how a hacker used “social engineering” and phishing to take control of the social media platforms of a journalist. A lesson for those of us who are not rigorous in employing safe practices on the net; and also a reaffirmation of the scant regard that platforms pay to individual privacy and to the resolution of its breach.
For more such stories from the grantees, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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