-The New Indian Express The Survey of India plans to use drones to create a high-resolution map of every inch of India. It comes with unprecedented privacy and security challenges The Survey of India (SoI) has embarked upon an ambitious project of using drone imaging to create an ultra-high resolution spatial and topographic map of India. Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, calls it the biggest endeavour in Indian...

-Hindustan Times Expanding the scheme will improve incomes, boost demand. Along with expanding the scheme, the ministry must also roll out without delay, as promised, a programme for skill building of these workers so they can move up the economic value chain, and also utilise this labour in a proactive manner for water conservation projects, another key programme of the Centre. A report in the Hindustan Times on Monday said that...

-The Telegraph The government plans to frontload additional expenditures in the rural job scheme to boost demand in the rural economy New Delhi: Rural development schemes are likely to get more funds than allotted in the budget to boost consumption growth, which has fallen to a seven-year low in the villages. The Narendra Modi-government plans to frontload additional expenditure in the rural job scheme and highway construction projects to boost demand in the...

-Hindustan Times It has also exempted projects with a proposed capacity expansion up to 40% from the requirement of public consultations, with certain riders. In a move that could turn out to be a bonanza for the mining and infrastructure sectors, the environment ministry is considering a number of relaxations in the environment impact assessment (EIA) process that is carried out for Development projects, including mining, before they are given the go-ahead. In...

-The Hindu Extractive projects like Sardar Sarovar have hit many people. The Gujarat government has filled up the Sardar Sarovar this year, flooding the Narmada. In Madhya Pradesh alone, reportedly, more than 28,000 families still live in the submergence zone. They have not been given due rehabilitation or compensation. However, despite opposition by many groups, the Gujarat and Union governments are going ahead with this forced mass displacement of communities. Disturbing videos are circulating....