-The Times of India The central government has spent Rs 9,093 crore on building about 1.8 crore toilets across the country under the Swachh Bharat Mission since October 2014. This is because Prime Minister Modi has made the drive a priority. The mission also envisages a cleaner India at large, although this part of the plan is hazy. The question that arises now is — how is this frenzy of toilet-building changing...
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INDIA FOCUS: Drought and drinking water shortage. More than one-third of India is affected. Click here for info and links.
Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...
More »At Rs 250/kg this black rice variety makes remote Assam farmers rich
-IANS Guwahati: Rice is generally white in colour, or is it? Black is the colour for over 200 farmers in Assam’s Goalpara district - and they are laughing all the way to the bank. Started by a single farmer in the district about four years ago, the cultivation of black rice has caught the fancy of more and more farmers who are turning to it instead of the traditional white rice. Young farmer...
More »Govt rejects CJI's claim of need for 40K more judges -Amit Anand Choudhary
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday virtually rejected Chief Justice of India TS Thakur's claim that 40,000 more judges were needed to obliterate over three crore pending cases by saying that his estimates were not backed by any scientific research or data. Referring to 1987 Law Commission report suggesting increase in judges' strength, the CJI had on May 8 said the judiciary needed an additional 40,000 Judges to...
More »Patently a missed opportunity -Achal Prabhala and Sudhir Krishnaswamy
-The Hindu India’s first IPR policy trots out the worn western fairy tale that more IP means innovation, and encourages the pointless privatisation of indigenous knowledge India’s National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy, released in mid-May, is a bewildering document. There are two ways to read this policy. The first is as a gigantic exercise in dissimulation, with a terse declaration — India is not changing its IPR laws — tucked inside...
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