-Down to Earth Several thousand hectares of crops stand destroyed Even as a team of experts gears up to study the situation of droughts in Maharashtra, heavy unseasonal rains and hailstorms have damaged an estimated 88,000 hectares of standing crops and orchards in the last few days. Nashik, Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar and Sangli are the worst-affected districts. In Nashik, 38,000 hectares of grape crops have been completely damaged. Subhash Arve, vice president of...

-Economic and Political Weekly   The High-Level Committee set up by the Narendra Modi government to review the major laws relating to environment protection has, in its recommendations, worked towards two sets of objectives: one, to separate business from the messiness of governance, and, two, to redraw the line of demarcation between the judiciary and the executive. Manju Menon (manjumenon@namati.org) and Kanchi Kohli (kanchikohli@namati.org) are with the Centre for Policy Research - Namati...

-Down to Earth CM Fadnavis said his government is considering Madhya Pradesh pattern of drought-proofing that follows small-scale water conservation measures Will Maharashtra finally do away with big-dam centric water management and focus on decentralised water conservation? If Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is to be believed, the new government is thinking in that direction. Speaking informally to the media during the winter session of the state legislative assembly at Nagpur, Fadnavis said that...

-Down to Earth Sixty-four countries are on track to meet Millennium Development Goal of reversing the incidence of malaria, according to a WHO report WHO's World Malaria Report 2014 has reported a significant decrease in deaths due to malaria. Mortality rates due to the disease have reduced by 47 per cent worldwide and 54 per cent in the WHO African region. The report estimates that of approximately 4.3 million deaths averted between 2001...

-Down to Earth Employment guarantee, rural road and sanitation schemes among those likely to be affected The upcoming budget will see social sectors face huge cuts in funds. Ministries concerned with infrastructure works, on the other hand, will be given with more funds. These include ministries of shipping, road and transport, telecom and power. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has directed the Union Ministry of Finance to include these budget adjustments in the...