-The Telegraph 'Wish there were announcements on government spending' Kolkata: Like many Indians, a young businessman keenly awaiting the fine print of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-reliant India Mission) placed himself before a television screen around 4pm on Wednesday. The businessman did not have to brush up his language skills to understand finance minister Nirmala SITharaman but he came away with a sense of déjà vu. “I heard that I will...

-Newsclick.in A rapid survey done by 4 independent organisation calls for universal PDS, direct cash transfer, among other things. Mumbai:  A rapid survey done by four independent organisations on the condition of migrant workers in Gujarat and Maharashtra has suggested several measures that could be taken to ease the SITuation. The rapid survey, done by theCentre for Labour Research (CLRA), Habitat Forum (Inhaf), Mashal and sociology department of Savitribai Phule UniverSITy, Pune was...

-Press release by VikasAnvesh Foundation, Sambodhi, Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), BAIF Development Research Foundation (BAIF), Action for Social Advancement (ASA), SATHI-UP, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), Grameen Sahara and Transforming Rural India Foundation (TRIF), dated 13th May, 2020 One of the largest surveys to assess the impact of COVID 19 and the lockdowns on the rural poor was recently undertaken by leading Indian NGOs. The collaborating NGOs have footprints...

-Firstpost.com One of the most telling human stories to result from the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting nationwide lockdown is that of stranded migrant workers. But theirs isn't a new story; it's taken a pandemic for urban India to take note of an issue that has remained an unseen aspect of the country's economy for much of its contemporary history. P Sainath, founder of People's Archive of Rural India (PARI) and...

-Livemint.com The line, connecting Hubballi and Ankola, poses a risk to 2,500 endemic species. On March 20, the controversial Hubballi-Ankola railway line project was cleared at the Karnataka State Wildlife Board meeting in Bengaluru amid protests from members. The proposed 164.44-km line will pass through the Western Ghats, a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage SITe, and see felling of 2.2 lakh trees, a move that has been opposed...