- Scroll.in India prohibited manual scavenging in 1993. But it took another 20 years to expand its legal definition to include the manual cleaning of drains, sewers and septic tanks. Mumbai, with the richest municipal corporation in India, was among the worst offenders when it came to the implementation of the 2013 law. Records maintained by the Safai Karamchari Andolan, a national organisation working for the rights of sanitation workers, show 19...

Editorial team, Carbon Copy  Ongoing shifts in rainfall and temperature caused by climate change are likely to increase the debt burden faced by rural households, particularly of marginalised groups in dry areas, an editorial in Carbon Copy magazine said. The piece cited a study in the journal Climate Change that argues that changes in climate, along with existing socio-economic differences - caste and landholding in particular — will deepen the size...

The World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2022, released in December 2022, provides its readers a plethora of useful statistics and data across the countries pertaining to agriculture and food security. The yearbook by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) primarily covers four themes -- Economic Dimensions of Agriculture; Production, Trade and Prices of Commodities; Food Security and Nutrition; and Sustainability and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture.  While going through the report,...

-IndiaSpend.com Bajra, jowar and ragi – millets usually consumed in India – have almost four times the iron contained in brown rice, and three times the folic acid per serving. The year 2023 was declared as the International Year of Millets by the United Nations General Assembly. #IYOM2023, as the Food and Agriculture Organization calls it, will be an opportunity to raise awareness about the nutritional benefits of millets and its suitability...

-Scroll.in The government wants to reduce its dependence on imported crude oil by producing more ethanol-blended petrol. While India is making a push for ethanol-blended petrol, by incentivising sugarcane-derived ethanol, concerns remain about the Water-guzzling nature of the sugarcane and fair remuneration for farmers. On November 2, the Centre, as part of its Ethanol Blending Programme, approved a higher price for ethanol that is derived from different sugarcane-based raw materials. This was done...