Easing building regulations | What is really driving India’s Pakistan strategy? | One year of the Modi government

CURRENT AFFAIRS

COASTAL REGULATION ZONES Easing building regulations: Where’s the groundwork? The recent amendment to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification relaxes building norms for CRZ areas. There are certain necessary measures that should have preceded it, says Meenakshi Kapoor as she brings out the implications of the amendment.

GEOPOLITICS AND THE MILITARY What is really driving India’s Pakistan strategy? Our government and the National Security Adviser are promoting ‘defensive offence’ as India’s Pakistan strategy. Fridaus Ahmed explains why that’s not the case and that our strategy is more ‘offensive-compellence’ than ‘defensive offence’.

AN OBJECTIVE REPORT CARD One year of the Modi government: Between the cup and the lip The present government completed one year in the office in May this year. It came to power by promising to bring achhe din for the Indians, who were frustrated with high inflation, corruption and policy paralysis during the last government. Pradeep Baisakh objectively analyses the performance of the Modi government in its first year.

HEALTH & SANITATION

MENSTRUAL HYGIENE Why rural girls need more than just sanitary napkins Handing out non-biodegradable sanitary pads to rural school girls who have reached menarche will not address their menstrual hygiene issue. Clean and functional toilets with water supply, awareness about menstruation, economical and biodegradable pads and more is needed, finds Puja Awasthi.

SANITATION & HYGIENE Slum dwellers in Assam suffer from poor sanitation and hygiene Sanitary conditions in most of the slum areas in Assam are abysmal. Ignorance about cleanliness, lack of water supply and proper working toilets, absence of covered drainage and sewage, and no action from the local and state government are to be blamed for the mess, reports Nilotpal Bhattacharjee.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

CRAFT & EMPOWERMENT Arifa shows how business is done In conflict-stricken region of Kashmir where women are sheltered and house-bound, it’s next to impossible for a woman to be an entrepreneur. Making it possible are women like Arifa, who overcame various challenges to start her own crafts store in Srinagar. Renu Agal meets Arifa to write her inspiring story.

INVISIBLE VICTIMS When the man in the family is branded a terrorist In conflict-stricken region of Kashmir where women are sheltered and house-bound, it’s next to impossible for a woman to be an entrepreneur. Making it possible are women like Arifa, who overcame various challenges to start her own crafts store in Srinagar. Renu Agal meets Arifa to write her inspiring story.

BOOK REVIEW

A human gaze Harsh Mander’s new book Looking Away: Inequality, Prejudice and Indifference in New India talks about the growing inequality and the lack of compassion amongst the rich for the poor in India. Darryl D’Monte reviews the book which despite its candidness about the grim realities offers a message of hope and promise.