Author: Tazeen Qureshy

her life

A seed bombing eco-guerrilla wages war for green cover in rural Odisha

Growing up in a family of nature lovers, environmental degradation always upset journalist and docu-maker Subhransu Satpathy. Now the self-trained ecologist is on a mission to increase rural Odisha’s greenery with an ancient Japanese technique.

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Tribal girl goes from athlete to village leader

Bhagyashree Lekami was focused on entering the sports profession until the people in her village made her head of the panchayat. Now she tries to ensure her village progresses, from winning workers’ confidence to busting vaccine hesitancy.

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Sport unites two hostile tribes in Assam

Sport is bringing peace between two feuding tribes - the Bodos and Santhals - in a village of Assam thanks to the efforts of a young Bodo athlete.

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Tinker labs kindle rural kids’ technical creativity

By learning to code and tinker with salvaged electronic items, children in rural Odisha are getting hands-on learning, fostering curiosity and honing their natural scientific innovation to grasp lessons beyond the curriculum.

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Hot iron branding of babies fizzles out

In a unique approach, healthcare workers in rural Odisha engaged traditional healers – who once branded newborn babies with a hot iron to try and cure illnesses – to curb this harmful practice.

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Will Dhinkia lose its betel vines to steel plants?

Unwilling to give up their profitable betel farms, residents of Dhinkia are protesting against the acquisition of their lands for an industrial plant.

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Rural social media stars showcase rustic charm

Pandemic spurs villagers to post videos of their rustic life, turning them into social media stars. In their own way, they’re bridging the rural-urban divide.

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Mandatory Aadhar seeding impedes access to welfare schemes

Linking of Aadhar with ration cards and bank accounts, mandated to weed out fake beneficiaries of government entitlements, has left many without much-needed benefits during the lockdown