Hanan Zaffar

3 days ago | scroll.in | Hanan Zaffar |Jyoti Thakur

On his six-acre farm in Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, Sanjeev Kumar, a 42-year-old farmer, beams with quiet pride as he points to the glinting blue solar panels powering his irrigation pump. Installed two years ago at the cost of Rs 3.5 lakh, the 7-kilowatt system draws groundwater from as deep as 200 metres. It has been a game-changer for the wheat and peanut farmer from Chamraua village in Babina block. “Before this, I had to rely on diesel or unreliable electricity [to operate his irrigation pump].

1 week ago | india.mongabay.com | Hanan Zaffar

Solar irrigation is helping Indian farmers overcome high diesel costs and unreliable power but may worsen groundwater depletion in dry areas. Government schemes support solar irrigation and selling excess power to the grid, but low tariffs, red tape, and poor metering limit their success. Without integrated water and energy governance India’s solar irrigation drive may worsen environmental stress, say experts.

1 week ago | themuslimtimes.info | Rafiq A. Tschannen |Hanan Zaffar |Danish Pandit

ISLAMOPHOBIAHow ‘love jihad’ charges against Muslims are falling apart in India, one case at a timeWith no convictions and mounting acquittals, India’s controversial ‘love jihad’ laws are increasingly being exposed as tools of communal targeting, leaving Muslim men to bear the human cost. ShareRights groups say such laws have been weaponised to target interfaith couples and fuel anti-Muslim sentiment (AFP).

2 weeks ago | themuslimtimes.info | Rafiq A. Tschannen |Hanan Zaffar

Muslims cite fear and marginalisation as a driver behind their desire to leave, making India the second-largest source of Muslim migrants globally Though Muslims represent about 15 percent of India’s population, they account for an estimated one-third of Indian emigrants (Nasir Kachroo via Reuters Connect) By Hanan Zaffar Published date: 3 June 2025 When Taufeeq Ahmed* boarded a flight from New Delhi to Canada in early 2020, he wasn’t chasing a promotion, a degree or the promise of a better...

3 weeks ago | middleeasteye.net | Hanan Zaffar |Azad Essa

When *Taufeeq Ahmed boarded a flight from New Delhi to Canada in early 2020, he wasn’t chasing a promotion, a degree or the promise of a better paycheque. Instead, he was trying to leave something behind - a heavy sense of unease that had been quietly building for years, and a fear that had finally become impossible to ignore. “I lived close to Jamia Millia Islamia,” he said, referring to the prominent university in New Delhi where he used to study.