-The Hindu Mamata Banerjee’s assumption that Bengali nationalism could block anti-incumbency and Hindutva may be optimistic The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal is a unique specimen in understanding anti-incumbency. Welfare schemes that usually make incumbents popular have added to the anti-incumbency woes of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as the workers of her party made those the easy and only option for rent-seeking. ‘Cut money’, or the cut for TMC local...
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‘Politicians get richer, our lives worse’: Why Assam’s flood-hit Dhemaji isn’t moved by this election -Ayan Sharma
-Newslaundry.com Year after year, flooding in the Jiadhal ruins homes and fields. Year after year, politicians make promises that aren’t kept. The electoral heat is soaring in Assam with the three-phase assembly election kicking off on March 27. But for Kalpana Bora, 60, this frenzy means nothing. It’s a dusty March afternoon and Kalpana is sitting in her home next to the busy NH-15 highway in Kekuri gaon. Her face is lined with...
More »Climate change needs to be addressed or else be ready to pay the price
A recent report by Christian Aid -- an international NGO based out of London -- says that the world was not just hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it actually faced massive loss of lives and livelihoods owing to the intensification of the ongoing climate crisis. Climate-related disasters varied from fires in Australia and the United States, floods in China, India and Japan to storms in Europe and the...
More »India bore maximum brunt of extreme weather events in 2020: Report -Jayanta Basu
-Down to Earth As many as 2,067 lives lost to floods in India through the year, the highest in the world due to climate change-induced events Floods and Cyclone Amphan in India accounted for maximum loss of lives globally due to climate change-triggered events in 2020. The cyclone, which ravaged Sunderbans in the southern fringe of West Bengal and hinterland including Kolkata in May 2020, led to “the biggest displacement” in world...
More »Keep a close eye: Social audits in India -Santosh Kumar Biswal and Uttam Chakraborty
-The Telegraph The government has not institutionalized SAUs which are at times intimidated when it comes to accessing data on various programmes The auditing agility of government programmes seems to have gained strength. After the recent floods in Assam, the state planned to carry out a social audit of relief measures to look into corruption and bribery. This is the first time that any government is trying to reinforce a social audit...
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