-Down to Earth While power consumption in agriculture is overestimated, a number of factors influence groundwater extraction. A new study done by Pune-based non-profit Prayas shows that India’s agriculture sector cannot be held responsible for financial stress on electricity distribution companies (discoms) and for declining groundwater. The study titled, Understanding the Electricity, Water & Agriculture Linkages, argues that not only is the subsidy given to agriculture in India overestimated, the relation between subsidy...

-PTI NEW DELHI: A ban on construction activities came into force in the national capital on Thursday as Delhi's air quality was on the brink of turning "severe" due to stubble burning in the adjoining regions and unfavourable meteorological conditions, authorities said. The overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded at 393, which falls in the "very poor" category and is just seven points from turning severe, according to data...

-The Hindu A national policy for internal migration is needed to improve earnings and enable an exit from poverty Though migration is expected to enhance consumption and lift families out of absolute poverty at the origin, it is not free from distress — distress due to unemployment or underemployment in agriculture, natural calamities, and input/output market imperfections. Internal migration can be driven by push and/or pull factors. In India, over the recent...

-Newsclick.in 11,487 villages in 167 tehsils will face water scarcity, farmers likely to be most severely hit. After running in circles over “drought like situation” in Maharashtra, according to the latest study conducted by the state’s Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA), nearly 71 per cent of the state shows a drop of more than a meter in groundwater level in September, as compared to a five-year average. As many as 170 tehsils...

-The Indian Express Claims that Aadhaar has increased the demand and allocations of NREGA work rest on several faulty assumptions. Two newspaper articles in the Times of India and Financial Express claimed that Aadhaar linking boosts MGNREGA and has cut wage payment delays. Both articles were based on a working paper, “A Friend Indeed”, by members of the Digital Identity Research Initiative (DIRI) at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. The ISB...