-The Indian Express For the poor, with little cash in the first place, digital promises to ‘swipe’ them out, before their marginalisation is even addressed. Demonetisation is, by its very nature, an autocratic, coercive step. The demonetisation of November 2016 has affected every single Indian. We are, as usual, persuaded to bear the pain and suffering, to “sacrifice” for the nation. The rhetoric continues but it now seems clear that the objective...

-TheThirdPole.net Anupam Mishra, who spent three decades fighting for rejuvenation of India’s traditional water harvesting systems, died on December 19 If many of India’s ponds, wells, stepwells, springs, check dams and other traditional water harvesting systems are still in working order today, if at least a few of India’s rivers have been revived, much of the credit must go to Anupam Mishra. Through reportage, analysis and advocacy sustained over three decades, this...

-Outlook A crusader for Dalit rights, Bezwada Wilson, on reclaiming for the Dalits a life of human dignity in a structurally apathetic society. On many occasions, the Ramon Magsaysay Award has been bestowed on individuals of various ilks and ideological persuasions. For the first time, perhaps, it speaks to an issue that touches the lives of millions of people because an award for Bezwada Wilson (50) is an international acknowledgement of the...

-The Hindu Bezwada Wilson has won Magsaysay Award for his struggle against manual scavenging. Chennai: Fifty-year-old Bezwada Wilson, national convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), was declared one of the six recipients of the 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award by the Philippines-based award foundation, in Manila on Wednesday. Recognised for his efforts to eradicate manual scavenging, Mr. Wilson told The Hindu that India still had over two lakh manual scavengers who needed...

-The Indian Express Why pulses aren’t the first choice of Marathwada’s farmers despite higher prices this time. Latur: About two years ago, Guruling Modi took 10 quintals of tur (pigeon-pea), a crop he had grown for the first time on his two-acre holding, to the market yard at Latur. “I got a price of just Rs 4,200 per quintal, despite my produce being of the best quality. After expenses of Rs 35,000...