Video Volunteers identifies, trains and empowers grassroots media producers who create change in and for voiceless communities in the developing world. With more than 170 community producers working full-time with salaries, VV is one of the largest social change media networks in the world. Our network is spread across 103 districts in 18 States in India. More than 3000 videos on topics like child marriage, temple prostitution, insurgent conflict, atrocities...

-Down to Earth After two budgets and Rs 5,300 crore in funding, the Centre's micro irrigation project that promises water to every farmland is not even close to a roll-out The news of deficit monsoons this year has once again left the Centre worried. A concerned prime minister chaired a high-level meeting on June 8 where he emphasised the need to quickly augment the irrigation capacity of the country. But he conveniently...

-Outlook Despite claims, closer scrutiny of the data shows that the actual farmers are not getting enough support. There are tall claims on the farm credit front while there has not been any let up in the agrarian crisis, indicated chiefly by the continued farmers' suicides in different parts of the country. Yes, there is enough evidence for the government to show a heavy flow of credit to the farmers through...

-Business Standard Successors to Millennium Development Goals should be achievable - and clearly written "By 2030 reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births." Everyone understands what this statement means. It is simple, comprehensible, concise, specific and quantifiable. In September 2015, the Milennium Development Goals, or MDGs, will be replaced by sustainable development goals, or SDGs. There are several parallel channels flowing into SDG formulation. One...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's apex pollution control agency is about to take on the role of "Big Brother" for industries, acquiring the capability for 24-hour surveillance of select factories through a network of sensors, communication channels and cameras. The Union environment and forests ministry has launched a nationwide pollution tracking system that will allow the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to continuously monitor the gas and liquid effluents discharged by select...