eBook | The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights & Human Rights Day (10 December): “India must ratify the International Convention against Torture”

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. […] Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look … Read more

Tiger conservation and tourism – its impact on the people in and around the tiger reserves

The Supreme Court order [2012] to ban tourism in core tiger reserves, and decisions to shoot poachers at sight find favour with some conservationists, the middle class and media. But what will their impact be on the people who live in and around the tiger reserves, asks Tarsh ThekaekaraTiger numbers are on the rise. Not … Read more

Tip | Book on the ancient religion of the Santals: Ancestral creation narratives – Assam, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura & Arunachal Pradesh

The religion of the Santals, which we see today, represents one of the most ancient religions.  […] The Santals are one of the largest homogenous indigenous peoples group in India, numbering more than six million scattered over in the states of Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and outside India in Nepal, … Read more

Looking at the relationship between Native people and the land: Cherokee painter Kay WalkingStick reminds her viewers of a deeper story – United States of America

Source: “Flight of the con­dors”, by Alice Li, Kasha Patel and Melina Mara, Washington Post, 1 November 2022URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2022/california-condors-yurok-program-extinction/Date Visited: 4 November 2022 Source: Kay WalkingStick by Kathleen Ash-Milby And Bradley Pecore, American Indian, Fall 2015 VOL. 16 NO. 3 | NMAI Magazine WebsiteAddress: https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/kay-walkingstick-passion-and-placeDate Visited: 4 November 2022

School enrolment and literacy: State priorities towards education under colonial rule and since India’s independence – Gujarat, Jharkhand, Manipur, Rajasthan & West Bengal

Why does China soar where India continues to struggle? The most basic reason is state priorities towards education. As of 1947, the literacy rate in India was barely 11%. But the Chinese emulated Japan’s earlier policy choices (and were themselves soon copied by the south east Asian “tigers”) by investing very heavily in primary education. … Read more