-Scroll.in A one-man judicial commission has recommended that the company pay the full amount as penalty for its violations in a forest that is home to elephants. In July 2020, the government of Assam ordered an inquiry into allegations of illegal mining in the state’s Digboi forest division. The division, an administrative category, falls within the larger Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve, one of India’s largest rainforests. In December 2021, the report of the...

-Down to Earth Bihar needs to strengthen and enhance capacities of Gram Panchayats to realise the gains of a decentralised planning Imagine yourself living for ages in a remote village inside a dense forest in the 21st century. Basic amenities such as proper roads, safe drinking water, healthcare and education facilities are missing.  The nearest primary school and health centre is located at a distance of seven kilometres. You have to trek through...

-The Telegraph With a per capita income at a whopping $2554, poverty is down; exports are up and GDP is fueled by both agriculture and manufacturing; but the downside is a growing nexus between politics and business There is justifiable pride all around at Bangladesh’s remarkable performance in both the economic and social development dimensions. “Pakistan and India don’t matter. We have done better than both!” The figures speak for themselves. The renowned...

-The Tribune In India, there is a concerted campaign to discredit the arhtiya, building the case for bringing in agri-business companies. There is certainly a need to regulate the middlemen, but the American experience shows how the consolidation of the meat industry, leading to market concentration in the hands of a few companies, is making it difficult for livestock farmers to survive. WHILE Indian policy makers and economists haven’t drawn any lessons...

-TheWire.in In an interview with Karan Thapar, the epidemiologist said the reason the WHO doesn’t trust India’s COVID-19 death count is because the undercounting is substantially greater than in other countries. Prabhat Jha, one of the world’s most highly regarded epidemiologists, has said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) does not trust India’s COVID-19 death figures and, therefore, when it made its first estimate of global deaths, it did not include India’s...