-Newsclick.in Funds squeeze causes 14-17% refusals every year. The rural jobs guarantee scheme has emerged as a lifesaver for millions of Indians as they struggle with relentless unemployment. But official data shows that a very large number of job seekers are being turned away and not given Work. In the first six months of the current financial year (April to October 2022) nearly 1.5 crore applicants for Work were refused Work.  This situation...

-The Hindu 65% of Indians and a third of the global population had higher PM2.5 exposures during the lockdown, largely attributed to biomass cooking activity During COVID-19 lockdowns, many countries observed historic improvements in ambient air quality. Our new study shows that despite the historic improvements in ambient air quality, PM2.5 exposures increased for 65% of Indians and a third of the global population during the lockdown, largely attributed to biomass cooking...

-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...

-Down to Earth The employment scheme Worked as a lifeline for rural Indian households during the COVID-19 pandemic Lack of awareness and complexity of application process hold women back from applying for Work under the central government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), according to a recent report. Women beneficiaries struggled to enrol in the scheme, the report suggested. Most of them found enrolling for Work a complex and time-consuming process....

-The Telegraph Leena Gangopadhyay, the chairperson of the commission, who has been touring north Bengal for the past couple of days, has inspected three prospective sites and will soon submit a report to the state women and child welfare department for the final nod Siliguri: The West Bengal Commission for Women has decided to set up a home for destitute girls and women aged 18 years and above in or around Siliguri. Leena...