-Down to Earth The time to put off the inevitable question about human relationship to nature is long past. Our assumption that we can control and modify nature without repercussions is a fallacy Lofty mountains that touch the azure skies, gentle hills clothed in dense tropical forests and evergreen valleys — the Western Ghats nurture a variety of ecosystems not found in any other part of the world. Spread over 164,280 square kilometres,...

Multidimensional poverty is about non-monetary poverty and is strongly associated with the challenges of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although previously defined only in monetary terms, poverty is now understood to include the lived reality of people’s experiences and the multiple deprivations they face. India’s multidimensional headcount ratio (H) i.e. the proportion or incidence of people (within a given population) who experience multiple deprivations has reduced from 55.1 percent to...

-TheWire.in The water contamination has led to serious health problems and physical disabilities in Churaman Nagar village. Gaya/Patna (Bihar): Krishna Manjhi is only 35, but he looks much older. His neck is bent, making him unable to lift up his head. He cannot straighten his back, and the bones of his feet are thin and crooked. He can’t walk without a stick. Krishna is an orphan and his two brothers live in separate...

-Society for Social and Economic Research The economic reforms which were started in 1991 shifted the focus of fertilizer policies away from playing a leading role in building the fertilizer industry and ensuring the availability of fertilizers at affordable prices to farmers. Under the neo-liberal policy framework, reducing the fiscal burden of fertilizer subsidies and the foreign exchange burden of fertilizer-related imports became the overriding concerns of the state.  Interestingly, the post-liberalisation...

-The Indian Express Over the first half of 2020, while average wealth rose by only 1.7 per cent, Credit Suisse estimated that the full rise for 2020 will be 5-6 per cent and 2021 will see growth of about 9 per cent. The average wealth of Indian adults rose marginally by $120 (about Rs 8,800) to $17,420 (Rs 12.77 lakh) at end-June 2020, as against $17,300 as of December 2019, showing some...