-The Hindu Rice cultivation in Punjab, which thrived in the past due to the easy availability of water resources and free supply of electricity to farmers, is under considerable strain now. Vikas Vasudeva examines how overexploitation has made groundwater not only scarce but also increasingly alkaline. Gurmeet Singh, 60, a tall land-owning farmer in Bhattiwal Khurd village, which is located in Punjab’s Sangrur district, has yet again planted the water-guzzling paddy crop...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Solar pump scheme needs serious relook -Chandra Bhushan
-The Financial Express The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) recently rolled out a massive solar-pump programme called the PM-KUSUM scheme. The scheme has a target to set up 25,750 megawatts (MW) solar capacity by 2022 to power irrigation pumps, with central financial support of Rs 34,422 crore. It includes installation of 1.75 million off-grid and 1 million on-grid solar pumps as well as 10,000 MW of solar capacity in rural...
More »Incisive interventions that blunt the RTI's edge -Suhrith Parthasarathy
-The Hindu With the kernel of the Information Act under threat, the independence of the information commission is in peril When we describe India as a democracy what do we really mean? Are we referring merely to a system of popular sovereignty founded in universal adult franchise? Or are we suggesting something more — perhaps an assurance, grounded in the Constitution, of a set of rights, of the rights, among others, to...
More »Social activist Aruna Roy speaks to Anindo Dey (The Times of India)
-The Times of India blog Last week, NDA government succeeded in getting contentious amendments to RTI Act passed by Parliament. Social activist Aruna Roy, who was at the forefront of the movement to persuade Parliament to enact the original law, speaks to Anindo Dey about the development: * The government said the RTI Act amendments set right the anomaly of the Information Commissions, which are statutory bodies, being treated on a par...
More »By Amending RTI Act, Govt Is Attempting To Subvert People's Power -Aruna Roy & Rakshita Swamy
-Outlook India RTI remains the only credible means left in our polity today to access the facts within government functioning, and therefore, come closer to the truth, write Aruna Roy and Rakshita Swamy. “We the people of India….adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution”. The Preamble of the Indian Constitution articulated the intent of sovereignty and the status of all of us, as equal citizens. The Right to Information (RTI) Act...
More »