-The Indian Express Despite deforestation and human encroachment, the country’s forest cover has remained stable around 20% since Independence. This is because the loss of natural old-growth forests is compensated on paper by expanding monoculture plantations. Since Independence, a fifth of India’s land has consistently been under forests. The population has increased more than three times since 1947, and from 1951-80, a total 42,380 sq km of forestland was diverted — some...
More »SEARCH RESULT
'Housing for All' Means Nothing for India's Migrant Workers -Sangeeth Sugathan and Nivedita Jayaram
-TheWire.in Earning less than a living wage, migrant workers resort to living in the open, in shared and cramped rented rooms, or within the workplace. The Union Budget, announced on February 1, has committed to provide assistance for building 3.7 million houses in urban areas in 2018-19 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). However, this does little to resolve India’s urban housing crisis, which affects the poorest and most marginalised populations...
More »Sustaining the Amma Unavagams (The Hindu)
-The Hindu Five years after the first canteen came up, the future of the pet project of the then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa hangs in balance due to reports of fall in patronage and mounting losses borne by civic bodies. Budgetary support and operational reforms may be necessary for a course correction Sekar. D was observing this newspaper’s team of reporters as he sat cross-legged on the tiled floor. Then, he abandoned his...
More »India's largest onion wholesale market to go online -Nanda Kasabe
-The Financial Express As onion prices surge on the removal of curbs on minimum export price (MEP), Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) – the largest wholesale market for onions in Asia – is all set to be part of the World Bank-implemented Maharashtra Agricultural Competitiveness Project (MACP). The APMC will receive funds to the tune of Rs 1 crore as part of the project to bring the entire auction process...
More »75% Bohra women admit female genital mutilation: study -Shalini Nair
-The Indian Express While 33 per cent of female respondents said FGM has had an adverse impact on their sexual life, 10 per cent of the women reported having frequent urinary tract infections, and incontinence, with one reported case of excessive bleeding. New Delhi: Belying the government’s admission to the Supreme Court that there is no data on the existence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in India, a new qualitative study...
More »