-TheThirdPole.net More than 100 million people live without access to safe water in Southeast Asia, Sam Geall writes about what can be done to improve that and to protect clean water sources On 6 November, the Mekong River Commission acknowledged that climate change had exacerbated this year’s wildly varying water levels on the Mekong – which saw the mighty river reduced to a trickle in parts, even during the rainy season. But...

-The Indian Express The Covid lockdown has set off sweeping economic distress in cities but its crucial dimension has remained untold: the silent, devastating toll on the working woman in the city suddenly out of work *A month into the lockdown after she lost her job at an energy policy institute that paid  Rs 24,000 a month, 29-year-old Reshma, a post-graduate in social work, sent her four-year-old daughter to live with her...

-Down to Earth Allocation of village land for the development of solar and wind parks at the cost of pasture land is detrimental for villages Residents of Devikot village in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district are fighting to protect a sacred grove that caters to the forage requirements of more than 35,000 large and small animals in the area. Sacred groves are areas of natural vegetation protected by village communities due to religious reasons. Historically,...

-Hindustan Times The Prime Minister dedicated the 750-megawatt ultra mega solar power plant, which the government has said will reduce emission equivalent to approximately 15 lakh tonne of carbon dioxide every year, to the nation through video conferencing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday Asia’s largest Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power Project in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa will not only help the state but the entire world as a secure foundation for...

-Decoding the Priorities: An Analysis of Union Budget 2020-21, Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), February 2020 The publication presents an analysis of the priorities in Union Budget 2020-21, both on public expenditure and resource mobilisation front. It has been divided broadly into five chapters. The first chapter focuses on a host of important aspects under Resource Mobilisation, like domestic tax policy, international taxation policy, financial transparency, and Centre-State...