-The Hindu Business Line The death of two children killed for relieving themselves in public just days before India was declared ‘open defecation free’ by the Prime Minister highlights the chasm between targets and solutions India was declared ‘open defecation free’ on October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s 150-year birth anniversary. A target-oriented sanitation drive, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) was a signature programme of Prime Minister narendra modi’s first term in office. Rapid...

-Newsclick.in The ongoing economic slowdown will increase joblessness further as not only are jobs being lost, no new jobs are being created. While some leaders of the present government are blithely going about giving the world supposed lessons on how to govern, as narendra modi did at the UN General Assembly, and some others are busy handing out concessions to domestic and foreign corporates, the people in India are getting strangled by...

-The Indian Express Awareness campaigns are needed to deal with climate change We are delighted that Prime Minister narendra modi made an impassioned appeal for the reduction in the use of chemicals in agriculture. Though, in time, the PM will realise it is easier to announce new approaches than to get the agriculture system to embrace the appeal. This does not have to be. Public policy and allocation of funds can...

-The Hindu Powerful lobbies with vested interests see agroecology as a threat to their influence on farming systems Agroecology is recognised worldwide as a system that enhances fertile landscapes, increases yields, restores soil health and biodiversity, promotes climate resilience and improves farmers’ well-being. Its practices are supported by many agricultural scientists, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, farmers’ groups and several NGOs. It is therefore surprising that...

-Newsclick.in This bounty for corporate houses comes at a time when common people are reeling under a slowdown, joblessness is at record levels and incomes are stagnating. Continuing her series of press conferences, that are becoming like a treasure hunt for corporates, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced today that corporate tax rates will be slashed from the current 30% (average) to 25.17% including all cess/surcharge. Actually, if no other concession is availed...