Puja Gupta IANSlife Reduced eyesight is caused by multiple factors, including diseases like diabetes, eye trauma, cataracts or glaucoma. Over 3 crore individuals suffer from blindness globally, with India being home to nearly one-third the total figure. While 80 percent vision impairment can be prevented by early detection and timely intervention, lack of access and awareness has been a major deterrent in individuals seeking eye care. Over 5 crore people in India have moderat

Kim Kyung Hoon Reuters The coronavirus pandemic has turned one Japanese theme park into a new workplace for teleworkers, with a haunted house for the bargain. On Thursday, Yomiuriland, an amusement park in Tokyo, launched an "amusement workation" package to include a working booth next to its pool, and a ride on its observation ferris wheel with a portable WiFi router. "I love working outside. This is a good plan, and it feels great," said Tatsuki Yamamoto

Annie Banerji & Saurabh Sharma Thomson Reuters Foundation The victim of India's latest alleged gang rape faced the double discrimination of being born female and low caste, says her family, fearing she will get no justice in death either. They say it would all have been different if the 19-year-old victim of a brutal attack came from an upper-caste family or if the suspects were all lower-caste Indians, known as Dalit. "The police are twisting facts," her br

Easterine Kire Many of us are mourning the unexpected suicide of former Governor Dr Ashwani Kumar. He was different from other governors of the state. In spite of having been the former CBI chief, there was little of the dictatorial about him. He and his wife were very gracious hosts to their many visitors. He gladly released a book on disability awareness that Dee Diethono Nakhro and I worked on. With a big smile he thanked us for giving him reading material that was other than the

Nine humanitarian experts on the chances of a real global reset by 2030 Thin Lei Win  Thomson Reuters Foundation Five years ago, members of the United Nations unanimously approved a set of ambitious goals to hit by 2030 aimed at making the world a better place. The title wasn't snappy but the ambition was big. SDGs - or the 17 Sustainable Development Goals - cover everything from hunger to gender equality, climate change to eradicating poverty and protecting vanis

Easterine Kire He is often seen downtown steering himself along on his electrical wheelchair. Like a permanent fixture of the city centre. RH is also known as a city poet because he looks at the semi-urban landscape through a poet’s eyes and brings out beauty from the mundane and the everyday. It could be the sight of two people in conversation, or summer flowers, or a young girl under a lamppost or one of the many churches – Rh seems to have a poem for every sight of th

Yajurvindra Singh  IANS  The entertainment that every Indian cricket lover is so anxiously waiting -- the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 -- is about to start. The first match between the two top teams of the tournament will take place on Saturday at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Reigning champions Mumbai Indians (MI), led by Rohit Sharma, will lock horns with last year's runners-up Chennai Super Kings (CSK), captained by the man who recently announced retir

Orentsani Kithan Psychologist, Developmental Pediatrics, CIHSR Dimapur How happy you are with the way you look? How often do you look at yourself in the mirror and wished you had a better nose, hair, chin….?  Do you sometimes avoid social dos and obligations because you feel others will make fun or judge your appearance? Have you visited or consulted specialists to change your appearance in some way? Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a mental health condition “

Easterine Kire I don’t think it’s hysterical to call it rampant plagiarism because that is exactly what is happening now. A published Naga scholar had an unnerving experience recently. His book is a sought-after book on the literature of the Northeast. Another scholar brought to his attention the fact that the doctoral work of a scholar who had worked in the same discipline as him, was a word for word copy of his work without giving any acknowledgement to him. Since his

Annie Banerji Thomson Reuters Foundation As the coronavirus kept virtually everyone at home, Talat Jahan was busily crisscrossing the slums in her black-and-yellow rickshaw - on a lockdown mission to help women suffering abuse and hunger in her central Indian city. Jahan, 29, a domestic abuse survivor, and about a dozen other women who recently trained to become Bhopal's first female rickshaw drivers, ferried food and other essentials to hard-hit city families during India&#

Easterine Kire In the UK, 15th August was celebrated as VJ75 day. The allied victory over the Japanese was commemorated in a touching ceremony recognising the efforts of the men who fought to the last, and brought the Second World War to an end. The BBC did an extensive coverage of the program with the PM Boris Johnson in attendance. The significance of Victory Day seems to be kicking in only after 15th August, and CNN is preparing a Kohima-Imphal based report on the battle. I&rsquo

The struggle for space among the transgender community  Sentsuthung Odyuo Wokha  “Violence and stigmatization best describes the life and affairs of the transgender people, be it private space or public space, there is not enough room created for them to endeavour their identity in the already shaped society”, Transgender Activist.  There is a complex relationship between transgender people and their spatial identity; studies suggest that the transg

Umberto Bacchi Thomson Reuters Foundation The world's first entirely virtual art museum is set to open next month, hoping to bring masterpieces to anyone in the world with an internet connection, according to its British creator. The Virtual Online Museum of Art (VOMA) will feature art from renowned museums such as the Musee d'Orsay in Paris and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as digital-only originals, said Stuart Semple, the artist behind the project

Reuters This month marks the third anniversary of the fleeing of more than 730,000 Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine State to Bangladesh after a military-led crackdown in response to an attack by Muslim militants on Myanmar security posts. Here is a timeline of events in the crisis: Aug. 25, 2017 - Muslim insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attack 30 police posts and an army base in the north of Rakhine State. Aug. 26, 2017 - As fighting spreads betwee

Rina Chandran Thomson Reuters Foundation Taking a bus or the subway? Not without first checking your temperature in a smart shelter or touch-free kiosk. From Delhi to Seoul, authorities have introduced mobile apps, temperature-check kiosks and smart bus shelters to make public transit safer as offices and businesses open after lockdowns to control the novel coronavirus. Seoul's Seongdong-gu district this week rolled out 10 bus shelters powered by solar energy, and equippe

Reuters A new rule forcing Germans to take their dog for a walk twice a day has unleashed a debate on whether the state can decide what is best for the country’s 9.4 million pet canines. Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner announced this week she had taken expert advice and was introducing a law to ensure dogs go for a walk or run in the garden at least twice a day for a total of an hour. “Pets are not cuddly toys - their needs have to be considered,” said K

Moushumi Basu Thomson Reuters Foundation Indigenous researcher and youth activist Archana Soreng first heard the term "climate change" only a few years ago. But she quickly understood that India's tribal communities have been living a climate-friendly lifestyle for generations. "During my field visits and interactions with the tribes, I realised that concepts ... (such as) green living, rain water harvesting, reducing carbon emission and organic farming are ac

Easterine Kire A black and white photograph of former President of India, Zail Singh, in animated conversation with a Sikh gentleman, was featured by friends on social media. The story behind this picture was new for me. In November 1985, the President of India, Zail Singh, visited Kohima. As required by protocol, strict attention was paid to security arrangements before his arrival. It ended in a police action which the victims took with good grace. A few days prior to the presi

Reuters  Art rather than ostentation is the rationale behind the world’s most expensive coronavirus mask, say the Israeli jewellers who are crafting the $1.5 million object for an unnamed U.S.-based client. Made out of 18 carat gold and studded with 3,600 black and white diamonds, the mask will be fitted with an N99 filter to offer a high level of protection, said Isaac Levy, owner of the Yvel jewellery brand. “I don’t think (the customer is) going to us

Dr Meyingangla   Counselling Department, Immanuel College Academic Stress, Depression and Anxiety  College students are at increased risk of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given protective measures like, city lockdown, social distancing, closing Institutions will reduce interpersonal interactions with their friends/peers and teachers. However, availability of digital technologies can virtually take advantage to keep in touch with teachers. De