-Centre for Science and Environment * Niti Aayog vice chairperson Rajiv Kumar releases the report, which provides the real picture of organic farming in India: only 2 per cent of India’s net sown area organically farmed, and a mere 1.3 per cent of farmers registered to do organic farming * Organic and natural farming must be upscaled to make Indian agriculture sustainable, says the report * Needs to be turned into a mass...
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A Reality Check on India’s Search for Digital Utopia -Preeti Mudliar
-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the persistent digital divide afflicting rural India owing to poor and insufficient internet connectivity. With the Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech acknowledging the need ‘to complete’ internet connectivity to villages, there is a renewed vigour and interest in the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN)/BharatNet project. An important question to pose when translating policy to project is: when should...
More »As classes go online, how can the Right to Education be guaranteed for students without net access? -Rohan Deshpande
-Scroll.in The expectation that students will buy devices to receive education at their own cost is contrary to the spirit of the RTE Act. In April 2010, India brought into force the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, acknowledging the state’s responsibility to provide free and compulsory education to all children from the age of six to 14 years. The act was a consequence of Article 21A being...
More »How not to tame the digital dragon -Apar Gupta
-The Hindu The arbitrary ban on 59 web services undermines legal processes and democratic norms Earlier this week, on June 29, a dramatic press release was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) directing a ban on 59 smartphone applications, many of them web services. This includes TikTok, a popular social media platform; the UC Browser, a preferred web browser for low budget smartphones; and CamScanner, which is used...
More »How e-waste crisis continues to plague informal sector -Vikrant Wankhede
-Down to Earth Over 90% of electronic waste management is done by informal sector workers, most of whom are unaware of their rights Structured management of electronic waste (e-waste) in India is nascent and is mandated under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016. Some of the salient features of the rules include e-waste classification, extended producer responsibility (EPR), collection targets (EPR) and restrictions on import of e-waste containing hazardous materials. E-waste is categorised...
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