-Economic and Political Weekly   This paper, based on NSS employment and unemployment data for various rounds since 1999-2000, highlights the trends and patterns of inclusion and exclusion in female employment across social groups. It provides evidence of increasing social inequalities in female employment, alongside worsening gender-based segregations. It also shows how specific attention to social and cultural variables could overturn standard assumptions regarding women's employment, which indeed has relevance for more...

-The Third Pole Villagers in India's Greater Noida district could be the latest victims of groundwater contamination with reports of increased cancer cases spurring investigations and concern about the situation elsewhere in the country The perils of groundwater contamination were again in the spotlight recently when media reports about drinking water causing cancer surfaced from five villages in an industrial belt on the outskirts of the Indian capital New Delhi. As medical experts...

-Outlook Karnataka government plans to procure cloth from powerlooms for school uniforms, thus impacting the livelihood of handloom weavers in the state. The Vidya Vikas scheme of the government of Karnataka through which free handloom cloth for a pair of uniforms is provided to students of government schools is under a serious threat. Launched about 25 years ago, this unique scheme was designed to serve a dual purpose. The handloom cloth...

-The Third Pole Cities and villages in India will soon run out of potable water if current trends continue, warns senior water official India's groundwater tables are plunging at an alarming rate with reserves in some states dwindling to critical levels, according to the latest report from the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) - the apex body under the Ministry of Water Resources. Over 16% of the country's groundwater resources are ‘over-exploited' -...

-India Today Following the withdrawal of a subsidy for LPG cylinders by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, the Human Resource Development Ministry will soon begin reimbursing Rs.752 crore that was spent on preparing mid-day meals in schools using unsubsidised cylinders. The Finance Ministry's Department of Expenditure had last year given "inprinciple" approval for meeting an additional expenditure of Rs.752 crore to be incurred during 2012-13 for procuring LPG cylinders after the...