-The Telegraph The National Pension System is a disaster for retiring employees, says an apex body of various government unions; pension under existing scheme just 15% of that under earlier one A federation of Central government employees’ unions has written to the Cabinet Secretary to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), stating that the National Pension System (NPS) is a disaster for retiring employees in their old age. The federation said a Defence...

-The Hindu In Punjab, a project to use of paddy straw to produce compressed bio gas is one that is replicable across India, and can transform the rural economy The beginnings of a renewable energy revolution rooted in agriculture are taking shape in India with the first bio-energy plant of a private company in Sangrur district of Punjab having commenced commercial operations on October 18. It will produce Compressed Bio Gas (CBG)...

-The Telegraph Radhakamal Mukerjee: an ecological pioneer In 1922, a professor at Lucknow University named Radhakamal Mukerjee published a book called Principles of Comparative Economics. Reading the book one hundred years later, I was struck by the attention it paid to the impact of the natural environment on the social and economic life of Indian villages. Mukerjee was perhaps the first Indian scholar to recognise the vital importance of common property resources...

-Centre for Financial Accountability Jawabdehi Yatra organised by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) along with 80 other organisations in Rajasthan is making history. Rajiv Gandhi once said that only 30% of the government funds reach the ultimate beneficiary.  The government machinery in many states is seen as uncaring and unaccountable.  There are various reasons, mainly shortage of staff poor training, large-scale outsourcing and also insensitivity among a section of the employees and...

-The Telegraph Communities of Chhattisgarh caught in cross-fire between Salwa Judum and the Maoists The ghost of the Salwa Judum, a State-sponsored militia that operated in Chhattisgarh, continues to haunt the displaced Gotte Koya tribals. Before the apex court declared the militia unconstitutional, the Salwa Judum was illegally engaged in fighting the Maoists. Caught between the Salwa Judum and the Maoists, many communities were at the receiving end of the violence with...