-Down to Earth State-level workshops will be conducted to help users interpret data from the system A new satellite-based drought-monitoring tool will be able to indicate the presence of drought and its level of severity, providing authorities the maximum possible lead time to put mitigation strategies into place in India and across South Asia.  In India, the South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS) was developed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and...

-Newsclick.in White the redevelopment plan of Dharavi is likely to go ahead, issues related to rehabilitation of workers without proof of the tenement are a major worry. The redevelopment of Dharavi has been in waiting for close to two decades. Dharavi Development Plan (DDP) announcements in the past have been closely related to elections. It has again made it to the headlines because of the impending municipal elections in Mumbai and the...

-The Telegraph In a remarkable development, for the first time in 20 years, currency in circulation (CIC) declined during Diwali week. With the increased acceptance of digital payments in the country, over-reliance on cash is slowly fading away. Over the years, the Indian cash-led economy has now changed to a smart-phone led payment economy, says a research note.   In the report, Dr Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser of State Bank...

-The Hindu How significant is the development of the Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11)? Why are some activist groups opposing the commercial release of the crop? What are their allegations? How many transgenic crops are commercially cultivated in India? The story so far: The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), India’s apex regulator of genetically modified plants and food products, has approved the environmental release of Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11), a genetically-engineered variant of...

-The Telegraph Bench condemns the practice as ‘regressive’ and ‘invasive’ New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday Banned the decades-old “two-finger” test on rape survivors and said anyone violating the directive would be held guilty of misconduct. The two-finger test is conducted on victims of sexual assault and rape to determine whether they are habituated to sexual intercourse. Condemning the practice as “regressive” and “invasive”, a bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Hima...