-CivilSocietyOnline.com More than 50 people, including tribal groups, social activists, water experts, ecologists, wildlife experts and academics, came together for a brainstorming workshop on ‘Dams coming up for Mumbai Region.' The meeting was organised by the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, Shramik Mukti Sangathana, and Jalbiradari. About 12 dams are planned or are under construction to satisfy the increasing thirst of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). All these dams...

-The Hindustan Times Moga (Punjab): A Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) study has found that farmers in the state are wasting more than Rs. 175 crore on application of unnecessary fertiliser on crops a year. A large quantity of nitrogen also seeped underground resulting into the contamination of ground water. The study has found that incorrect and inappropriate application of fertilisers by farmers to gain bumper yield leads to the deterioration of soil,...

-The Conversation Resource-intensive agriculture, despite its productivity, nevertheless has failed to feed the world's current population, never mind the nine billion people expected by 2050. This system that currently fails both people and planet is ripe for revision. We need to be more ambitious, to go beyond simply producing more. We need to produce more of what's good - not just cereal staples, but nutrition-dense foods - in ways that can prevent...

-The Hindu Business Line     Whatever the criticisms against the UPA government may be, its effort to provide employment to large sections of the population under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act must be lauded. Yet, after the initial success of the scheme, the enthusiasm of the Central government itself seems to have diminished in its second term in power. How palpable is the shift to lower gear? Representatives of the UPA...

-The Hindu The Aam Aadmi Party's proposal of 666 litres of free water a day raises the alarming prospect of further disadvantaging the already deprived sections of Delhi who get no piped water at all The Twelfth Five Year Plan has proposed a paradigm shift in water management in India. One of our key proposals relates to urban water. In many ways, it could be said that the crisis of water and...