The Bishnupriya Manipuris aren’t a vote bank in either Tripura or Assam, where there is no single assembly constituency with my community being dominant. So, our issues are hardly highlighted by political parties and are rarely discussed in the mainstream media.

Lead has been recognised to have negative effects on children's neurological development. In 2016, the Indian government enacted rules to limit lead content in paints to a maximum of 90 parts per million. However, implementation challenges remain, especially in the small and medium scale enterprises.

India is the world's largest producer of milk and pulses, and it is the second largest producer of rice, wheat, vegetables, fruits and fish. Despite being self-reliant in food production of major crops and running the world’s largest food safety programme, the hunger situation is still serious in India. But there are ways to fight it.

The One Nation One Ration card scheme was launched in June 2019 to reform the Public Distribution System (PDS). However, close to 100 million people are estimated to be excluded from the PDS. There are several other challenges in the new scheme that need to be addressed.

Till around 1870, Dudhwa in the Terai region of India had naturally occurring rhinos, which were believed to have been wiped out due to excessive poaching. Through sustained efforts of the Government of India and the support extended by the governments of Assam and Uttar Pradesh, 40 rhinos now roam around Dudhwa.

While it promised an all-weather road connecting the four pilgrimage centres of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri, the Char Dham Pariyojna is floundering, as great stretches of the road, in the course of just one monsoon, are caving in.

Nagpur’s iconic red-light area Ganga Jamuna is in the news these days as the law enforcement authorities have decided to pull down the shutters on this 200-year-old red-light district in Maharashtra. While we debate the merits of this decision, it is time we focussed on the plight of sex workers in India and the ‘choices’ they have.

International interest in seabed mining has been stoked partly by new advances in robotics, computer mapping and underwater drilling. Mining companies globally are said to be scouring for fresh reserves, having depleted much of the world's easy-to-access veins. But a section of experts warns that deep-sea mining would have “catastrophic impacts”.

There are no miracle solutions for nutrition security. Fortification is projected as one miracle to address anaemia and nutritional issues experienced by people. This is a clinical approach and cannot, and should not be, applied at large.

In a lucky subpopulation, some people never test positive for COVID-19 and some that test positive never develop any symptoms. Why? Genetic studies are turning up some interesting answers which could point to new vaccine and treatment approaches.