-The Indian Express Housing activists say that a heavy reliance on private sector is the prime reason for poor pace of implementation of the PMAY New Delhi: A year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) with the stated purpose of constructing two crore houses for the urban poor by 2022—at the rate of 30 lakh houses per year— merely 1,623 houses have been constructed so far. The...

Two back-to-back reports that shed light on the status of MGNREGA implementation in the country, have been released recently from the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). A review of MGNREGA implementation in 8 different states of India by a team of experts during the month of May this year reveals that in many of the drought affected districts, the Gram Panchayats have no work to offer under the programme. (Please click...

-The Times of India Mumbai: Sumit Kulkarni puts on a surgical mask before entering the sprawling Annabhau Sathe Nagar slum in Mankhurd along with his team, equipped with wi-fi enabled tablets and high-resolution cameras, on a sultry afternoon recently. In a maze of narrow passages filled with a nauseating odour, gutter water and muck flow through the tightly-packed shanties. But Kulkarni and his young colleagues trudge along, knocking on every tin shed...

-DNA To add value to the ailing farming sector in Maharashtra, which is reeling under successive droughts, agrarian distress and a negative growth rate, the state government is working on an agro-industrial policy. "We are working on an agro-industrial policy. It will look at granting incentives to agro-industries like food processing units, which will help create value chains for farmers and set up facilities like cold storages. The policy will also grant...

-PTI It said that changes in settlement patterns, urbanisation and socio-economic status in Asia have increased exposure to climate extremes. United Nations: Nearly 40 million Indians will be at risk from rising sea levels by 2050, with people in Mumbai and Kolkata having the maximum exposure to coastal Flooding in future due to rapid urbanisation and economic growth, according to a UN environment report. The Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-6): Regional Assessments said that...