Accepting radical otherness
Context: The U.S.-based Pew Research Center’s survey has thrown up an interesting finding on religious tolerance in India: Indians of all faiths, paradoxically, support both religious tolerance and religious segregation. Most Indians (84%) surveyed said that respecting all religions is very important to them and all religious groups must be allowed to practise their faith […]
An unproductive idea: On UP Population law
Context: Incentives and penalties form an integral component of the measures to control population growth, announced by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in July 2021. These steps are aimed at reducing U.P.’s total fertility rate (TFR), recorded as 2.7 by the National Family Health Survey-4 in 2016, a figure only lower than that of […]
Challenging negative social norms
Context: It is important to focus on the challenges for India in terms of demographic management with the World Population Day coming up on 11th of July. Relevance: GS-I: Indian Society (Issues related to Population) Mains Questions: Discuss about India’s demographic dividend and throw light on the various roadblocks the remain in India’s population control […]
Survey on Religious Tolerance and Freedom in India
Context: Recently a nation-wide survey on religious attitudes, behaviours and beliefs in India was conducted by Pew Research Center, a non-profit based in Washington DC. Relevance: GS-II: Polity and Governance (Constitutional Provisions, Fundamental Rights), GS-I: Indian Society Dimensions of the Article: Fundamental Right to Freedom of Religion in India Secularism in India Religious Diversity in […]
LGBTQ+ community: Full equality still out of reach
Context: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. Relevance: GS-II: Social Justice (Social Empowerment, Issues Related to Transgenders, Government Interventions and Policies, Issues arising out of the design and implementation of Government Policies), GS-I: Indian […]
Assam’s two-child policy will stall development goals
Context: A coalition of civil society groups engaged in reproductive health has said Assam’s move to adopt a two-child policy for availing benefits under government schemes will hurt the poorest besides hindering the development goals of the State. Relevance: GS-I: Indian Society (Population and Associated Issues), GS-II: Polity and Governance (Government Policies and Interventions, Issues […]
The gender technology gap has to end
Context: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has swept South Asia in recent months, existing inequalities have come to light. One aspect stands out: access to technology has never been so crucial to ensuring public health and safety. Around the world, information and access to health care have largely moved online, and those […]
Looking beyond the binary to a spectrum on same sex marriage
Context: Recently, when the cases surrounding the question of same-sex marriages came up before the High Court of Delhi, the Union Government had the matter adjourned and overlooked the basic notion that the plight of persons in same-sex and queer relationships looking after each other — without the legal protection of marital relationships — was […]
NGT notice for rehabilitating displaced Brus
Context: The Eastern Zonal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought response from the Tripura Forest Department and the North Tripura district administration on a public complaint regarding the state government’s move to resettle over 40,000 displaced Brus of western Mizoram in the reserved forest. The NGT asked the state to submit the […]
Dowry deaths: SC widens scope of Section 304-B
Context: The Supreme Court indicated in a judgment that a straitjacket and literal interpretation of a penal provision on dowry death may have blunted the battle against the “long-standing social evil”. Relevance: GS-II: Social Justice (Issues related to women, Government Policies and Initiatives) Dimensions of the Article: Dowry system in India Defining Dowry Dowry Prohibition […]