-The Times of India PRATAPGARH/ALLAHABAD: After five years of collective work, over 10,000 people in nearly 50 villages of Pratapgarh and Allahabad districts have been successful in bringing the Bakulahi river back to its natural course. If Bihar's Dasrath Manjhi's resolve to break mountain was for carving out a road, these Manjhis from Mandhata block of Pratagarh were determined to end their water woes. The entire digging work of about 18...

-Deccan Herald Organic food in India has slowly made its way into more households over the last decade. More and more people are embracing the concept of safe food, having realised the benefits that come along with it. So, with the demand seeing a steady rise, how does the supply scene fare comparatively? Well, in keeping with the changing times and needs of consumers, farming too is seeing a shift towards...

Two recent reports show that this social sector scheme has had a causal impact in improving lives, especially for women and children Fourteen million people escaped falling into poverty under the world’s largest anti-poverty programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). In 10 years of its existence, the scheme reduced poverty by 32 per cent. Recent data also shows that more women are drawing cash incomes, more children...

-Tehelka Last year’s Red Fort rhetoric has not been matched by action on the ground, with separate toilets for students remaining elusive as ever One part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Independence Day this year can safely be predicted: the reeling out of statistics to prove that the Swachh Bharat campaign is sweeping the nation. The cleanliness drive launched on 2 October, 2014, was announced from the ramparts of the...

-Economic and Political Weekly The Indian weaver is dismissed in high places as an embarrassing anachronism, despite demand for his or her skills and products. In the new millennium, globalisation and a mindless acquiescence to imported notions of a good life threaten to take over, even as the West looks East for better concepts of sustainable living. Analysing today's crisis in the handloom sector, plagued by low-cost imitations from power looms,...