-Down to Earth blog Palm oil is water-intensive and requires large patches of land India is the second-largest consumer of edible oil globally and its largest importer. While the government has taken several initiatives over the years to increase the domestic production of edible oils, its shortage and high price are often in the news. Palm oil production grew between 2015-2016 and 2020-2021 at a compound annual growth rate of 6.1 per cent,...

-The Telegraph Jail and racetrack on beach bully list New Delhi: An audit has identified dozens of public and private projects that have breached India’s coastal regulations — beach resorts, ports, roads, a racetrack, and even a jail near an Olive Ridley turtle nesting site. The exercise by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged deficiencies in the Union environment ministry’s project approval mechanisms and lapses by state coastal regulatory authorities that...

-The Hindu International factors and faulty data will impact India’s projections of GDP, inflation and balance of payments The Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate again by a whopping 0.75%. The Reserve Bank of India has also been forced to raise interest rates further but also take other steps. These decisions in the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting are based on what the members of the MPC see as the likely...

-The Telegraph Move to prevent any repeat of fiasco in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh where at least 30 lakh names linked to Aadhaar were auto-deleted from the voters list after 2015 A senior Election Commission of India official told The Telegraph on Monday that no citizen would be compelled to give their Aadhaar details to poll officials even if they have an Aadhaar number. The official also clarified that election authorities would rely...

-Down to Earth Zero funds to Bengal, Lakshadweep this year, Centre admits in Parliament; activists ask to use pre-existing mechanisms to handle graft Millions of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have not received wages for months. Workers from West Bengal are especially affected, with 13.2 million people unpaid for seven months.  Bengal is the only state that received no funds under the 100-day work scheme in...