-The Hindu With the era of cheap, bountiful water having been replaced by increasing supply-and-quality constraints, many international investors are beginning to view water as the new oil There is a popular, tongue-in-cheek saying in America - attributed to the writer Mark Twain, who lived through the early phase of the California Water Wars - that "whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over." It highlights the consequences, even if...

-The New Indian Express Bangalore: Agricultural technologies can help increase global crop yields by as much as 67 per cent and cut food prices by in half by 2050, according to a new book, ‘Food Security in a World of Natural Resource Scarcity: The Role of Agricultural Technologies.' The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, has released this book recently. The book cites an increased demand for food due to population and...

-The Hoot Kutch's first FM radio channel, Saiyere Jo Radio, begun by a women's collective, costs Rs 25000 a month to run, transmission costs included. SEVANTI NINAN visits the Bimsar radio station.   Sitaben Rabbari is in some ways the mainstay of Saiyere Jo Radio. The radio station which puts out this transmission is located in a tiny building given by her on rent, next to where she lives. She is the...

-The Hindu Under India's labour laws, women engaged in "informal" work - such as domestic work - have few workplace rights. This makes it harder for women to have sustainable jobs, let alone a career. Nearly 400 million people live in cities in India and during the next 40 years that number will more than double. Not only is the proportion of India's total female population that is economically active is among...

-Live Mint Rural livelihoods have improved because of MGNREGA. It is wrong to say the scheme has not worked If some recent news articles are to be believed, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a scheme that costs less than 0.35% of India's gross domestic product (GDP), has crashed the country's economy. The latest to join this bandwagon of criticism is an editorial in Mint. ("MGNREGA: A tale...