-The Hindu Business Line Across India, groundwater schemes are up, but surface water schemes are declining Pune: In 14 years (2001-02 to 2014-15), net irrigation in India increased just 20 per cent, with an alarming trend of massive groundwater extraction. Per data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, while 41 per cent of the net irrigated area in India got water from tube wells in 2001-02, tubewell irrigation increased to...
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The thing about air -Mala Kapur Shankardass
-The Indian Express The pollution problem is not merely a technological issue, but a social concern. Air pollution is a silent killer in India, especially in the country’s northern belt. Eighteen per cent of the world’s population lives in India, but the country bears 26 per cent of the global disease burden due to air pollution. According to estimates of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative — published last year in...
More »Dishonouring the verdict -Apar Gupta and Abhinav Sekhri
-The Indian Express On the ground, SC ruling on Section 66A is frequently violated. In October 2018, we published a small study revealing how Section 66-A of the Information Technology Act 2000 [“IT Act”] continued to be used to prosecute persons despite being struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in Shreya Singhal (2015). We suggested that this afterlife was not merely wanton exercise of power by the police but...
More »Only nine crops account for two-thirds of global food output, finds FAO report -TV Jayan
-The Hindu Business Line ‘Switch to modern production systems has led to decline in use of farmers’ varieties and landraces’ As few as nine crops account for two-thirds of the global food output, and on-farm crop diversity has declined significantly over the decades as farmers have switched from traditional production systems that utilise farmers’ varieties and landraces to modern production systems depending on officially released varieties, shows a report on global biodiversity...
More »As PM Modi's Mega Farmer Income Scheme Rolls Out, 3 Challenges Before It -Sreenivasan Jain
-NDTV The scheme, announced during the budget in February promises Rs. 6,000 to 12 crore small and marginal farmer households each, at a total cost of Rs. 75,000 crore. As the government races to roll out PM KISAN, its flagship farmer cash handout scheme ahead of the elections, multiple challenges lie ahead. The scheme, announced during the budget in February promises Rs. 6,000 to 12 crore small and marginal farmer households each,...
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