-The Hindu The Centre should step forward and bring both Punjab and Haryana, ruled by the BJP and an ally, to the negotiating table to resolve the crisis over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal Contemporary India illustrates the tragic paradox of farmers’ politics: they get divided just when they need to unite the most. The last few years have witnessed a deepening of the agrarian crisis in India. This is the moment when...

-Down to Earth The Centre has promised more money to panchayats, but there is many a slip between cup and lip Like last year, the budget for the financial year 2016-17 also had a much-desirable provision. Last year, the government had increased the share of states in the Central divisible pool by 10 per cent after accepting the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. This year, the government has accepted another big...

-PTI New Delhi: Considering the “phenomenal” growth of e-waste in the country, the Centre today notified the revised e-waste management rules 2016 under which improper management of such refuse leading to environment damage will invite financial penalty. While CFL and other mercury lamps have been brought within the ambit of the e-waste management rules 2016, a “Deposit Refund Scheme” has been introduced under which the producer of any computer, mobile phone or...

-Livemint.com As the world celebrates World Water Day on 22 March, the situation in India is grim New Delhi: As the world celebrates World Water Day on 22 March, the situation in India is grim. In Maharashtra’s parched Latur district, the collector has imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, banning the assembly of more than five people near tanker-filling points, public wells, tanker-plying routes and storage tanks. The ban, which...

-The Hindu The Aadhaar Bill has been passed with no public consultation about the privacy safeguards necessary for such a database and no provision for public or independent oversight. The rights to liberty and freedom of expression cannot survive if the right to privacy is compromised. The Central government has forced the Aadhaar Bill through Parliament in a week. Aadhaar has had an invasive and controversial presence well before the government’s attempt...