-The Hindu The former Chief Statistician on calculating GDP back series, on indicators of development, and the fall of the rupee The draft of the back series GDP data, which was made public by the government recently, is unlikely to change drastically even if other methods of calculation are used, says former Chief Statistician of India, Pronab Sen. The noted economist discusses GDP, employment and poverty data; the value of the rupee;...

-The Hindu There should be space for greater storage of water in reservoirs before the onset of monsoon In the aftermath of any tragedy, people struggle to comprehend what happened and how to cope. Kerala is no different. With the floodwaters finally receding, a number of experts and politicians have stated various possible reasons for the tragedy. Some have cited ill-thought-out development plans that have affected the sustainability of the Western Ghats,...

-TheCitizen.in Dam failure a real fear The current floods in Kerala are unprecedented and clearly a national disaster. In the midst of this disaster, there is fear for the structural safety of the Mullaperiyar dam on the Periyar river. Madras Engineers Colonel John Pennycuick commenced construction of this 173-ft high dam in 1887, and it was commissioned in 1895. This gravity dam was considered an engineering marvel of those times. With the dam’s...

-PTI The NGT has directed the National Mission for Clean Ganga to install display boards at a gap of 100 km to indicate whether the water was fit for bathing or drinking New Delhi: Most of the Ganga river water in the Uttar Pradesh-West Bengal stretch is unfit for drinking and bathing, a map released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has indicated. The National Green Tribunal last month directed the National...

-Hindustan Times Whether it is to manage the flood situation of Yamuna or water logging of Kuttanad, we should adopt a similar strategy and promote the “give water its space” concept. Forcing water bodies to give up their space or change their courses, as envisaged in the country-wide river interlinking project will lead to irreversible consequences, learning from the examples before us. The monsoon is an unsettling time in India, with...