-World Resources Institute India struggles with water scarcity, a problem that poses especially huge implications for the country's food security and rural livelihoods. The country has long-battled its scarcity issues through Watershed Development, a participatory approach to improve water management through afforestation and reforestation, sustainable land management, soil and water conservation, water-harvesting infrastructure, and social interventions. But while watershed development has been employed in communities throughout India, its potential long-term costs...

-Outlook Bhubaneswar (Odisha): The Centre will work jointly with Odisha government to end the practice of bonded labour, Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said. "I look forward to working with the state government to put an end to this horrendous social evil," he said in a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Centre would implement a special livelihood project started under National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) to mitigate the plight of...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: After Parliament's assent to the Lokpal Bill, India Inc has engaged legal eagles and consultants to examine its ramifications. At first glance, it appears that nothing much changes for the corporate sector, which is governed by anti-corruption legislations such as the Indian Penal Code or The Prevention of Corruption Act. Besides, as business is now global, anti-corruption laws of other countries also apply. Yet, with the bill...

-The Indian Express Bali: In a landmark attempt to take forward the stalled Doha Round of global trade talks, the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday evening issued a revised draft of the Bali package that would address India's concerns on food security and take through the trade facilitation agreement. The draft has proposed an interim solution with a peace clause of four years during which a permanent mechanism will have to...

-The Hindu     To be able to deliver appropriate legal services to the rural and tribal communities, we need an alternative delivery system with a different model of legal service providers Delivery of legal services to the rich and the corporate class is organised not through individual lawyers but through a series of networked law firms. These firms employ hundreds of lawyers and domain experts all over the country to provide highly specialised...