-The Times of India blog A reply by Water Resources minister Uma Bharti to a Lok Sabha question on groundwater depletion foregrounds tough trade-offs facing India’s policymakers. According to Bharti, an assessment of groundwater resources and usage showed that 16% of 6,584 assessment units in India are “overexploited.” A table which accompanies her reply provides state-wise data. Here, Punjab stands out for the magnitude of overexploitation. If 16% of assessed units in India...
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A field of her own -Tarini Mohan
-The Indian Express Advancing rights of women farmers can revolutionise the rural ecosystem The stereotypical image of an Indian farmer is a mustachioed man, clad in a white dhoti with farming tools in hand. The reality is the Indian agricultural landscape is fast being feminised. Already, women constitute close to 65 per cent of all agricultural workers. An even greater share, 74 per cent of the rural workforce, is female. Despite their...
More »100 bridges across the country can collapse anytime: Transport minister Nitin Gadkari
-The Times of India (with PTI inputs) NEW DELHI: Over 100 bridges in different parts of the country are on the verge of collapse and need immediate attention, union transport minister Nitin Gadkari said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The startling information came to light after the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways completed a safety audit of 1.6 lakh bridges in the country and more than 100 structures were found to be...
More »Onion PRIces soar on supply squeeze -Vishwanath Kulkarni & Rahul Wadke
-The Hindu Business Line Scale Rs. 2,300/quintal; reports of traders hoarding the bulbs Bengaluru/ Mumbai: Onion PRIces at Lasalgaon, the country’s largest wholesale market for the vegetable, surged on Thursday to touch a high of Rs. 2,300 per quintal on tight supplies. The modal PRIces have almost doubled over the past two days and more than quadrupled since early July, when PRIces hovered around Rs. 500. PRIces across the country are expected to...
More »Midday meals scheme: Are corruption claims exaggerated? -Monika Yadav
-Ideas for India Soon after Aadhaar was made compulsory for availing midday meals in schools, the government claimed that the move had helped expose several instances of schools siphoning off funds under the scheme by reporting inflated student enrolment. Comparing official data with that from the Indian Human Development Survey, this column shows that corruption in the scheme is less than what is being alleged - and not of the nature...
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