-Down to Earth Incentivising farmers to sell solar power as a remunerative crop can help reduce the usage of diesel pumps The irrigation-energy nexus in India's agriculture sector is characterised primarily by depleting groundwater and a growing debt burden of power distribution companies (DISCOM). This is due to massive power subsidies that remain underfunded by the states.   The Government of India (GoI) has been promoting solar irrigation pumps by offering substantial investment...

-Down to Earth Encroachment of pastureland was possible because government doesn't recognise them as village commons, say locals Some Indian states saw a string of protests over the last couple of months against renewable energy projects on village land, even as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was raging in the country.  On July 6, 2021, police officials lathi charged locals participating in a dharna against plans to lay electricity lines across pasturelands...

-Newsclick.in In a recent paper published in the Bioscience journal, the scientists highlighted that the world will face grave dangers if immediate global actions are not taken to stop climate change. Let us no more turn a deaf ear to the disastrous possibilities of the unabated climate change due to human activities, let us immediately tackle climate change, let us script policy change, if the human race is to avoid the ‘untold...

-Down to Earth A behind-the-scenes look helps one know that human as well as economic costs need to be paid upfront to make either solar grade silicon or put together a million lithium batteries A recent analysis performed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shows that it is a business-as-usual scenario. The global average temperature has been 1.02 degrees Celsius (°C) higher than the baseline. The World Meteorological Organization has announced the...

-IDROnline.org The story of a self-help group that boosted livelihoods and household incomes in Odisha, depicted through Madhubani art. In Koraput district, Odisha, lies a remote village called Kanjariguda, home to an Adivasi community of farmers who predominantly grow ragi and rice. The village is so remote that villagers have to walk several kilometres—across forests and mountains—to hull their rice or access basic services such as mobile charging, photocopying, or printing. In 2019,...