-TheWire.in A performance audit brings home the point of what happens when the national auditor is denied access to information and records. A recently concluded performance audit on the functioning of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) Trusts in Jharkhand has indicted the state’s Mining and Geology Department for failing to furnish the actual figures of collections from mining leaseholders. Bringing the sad state of affairs to public notice, the national auditor said, “There were...

-TheWire.in The Union government, cut off from the realities of the vast diversity of health and poverty conditions of the country, appears to have bitten the bait of corporate lobbies. Madhu Soren (12) and Bokai Soren (7) are two brothers with thalassemia in a village in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district. Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder in which the body has lower than normal amounts of haemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying protein. When there is...

-The Wire Science * Solar energy is a rapidly expanding marketplace that should benefit the environment. Solar panels can last for decades if they are properly cleaned and maintained. * But there is a catch. What happens to these panels after they are decommissioned? They go straight to the landfill, where they have significant consequences. * Heavy metals in solar panels such as lead and cadmium have been known to seep out of...

-TheWire.in The panel has said, 'It was impossible for the deceased suspects to have snatched the weapons of the police and they could not have operated the firearms.' New Delhi: The Commission of Inquiry constituted by the Supreme Court to probe the “encounter” killing of all the four suspects after the 2019 rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Telangana has recommended that all the 10 police officers involved in the...

-TheWire.in A lack of financial incentives, absent policy-making and an unorganised trucking industry have stalled progress. Last year, at COP26, India pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2070. The transportation sector is responsible for nearly 14% of India’s total greenhouse gas emissions. It is also the fastest-growing greenhouse gas emission sector in India. Road transport, in particular, accounts for over 90% of transport emissions in the country. Therefore, to achieve the...