-Down to Earth A village in outer Delhi is sinking in wastewater overflowing from the Najafgarh drain. That’s because of construction over a wetland, which has blocked the natural water channels. Extreme rainfall has worsened the crisis If you wished to enter Raota village, on the Delhi-Haryana border in the national capital’s southwest district, you would have to wade through knee-deep wastewater. Roads there resembled a sewer; people used boats to commute. Wastewater...

-The New Indian Express From strengthening Gram Sabha to shunning alcoholism, IFS officer motivates villagers to transform their lives through ‘shramdaan’, which helped them build 700 check-dams. JHARKHAND: Nothing could have changed Ara and Keram villages under Ormanjhi Block, located about 45 km from Jharkhand capital Ranchi. The people sold forest wood, did menial works and drank the local spirit. The result was only natural: The two villages were economically and socially most backward...

-Down to Earth blog Overburdened drainage, frenzied and unregulated construction, no regard to the natural topography and hydro-geomorphology all make urban floods a man-made disaster The recent floods in Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh have taken by surprise both governments and people. In Patna, severe water logging has brought the city to a halt, with hospitals and residential areas filled with waist-deep water. Transport services have been disrupted, with many trains cancelled. There is...

-The Hindu Business Line The government must simplify and rationalise GST, kickstart rural consumption, revive agriculture and tackle the lack of credit for capital creation, says former PM Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an eminent economist himself, feels that the Narendra Modi-led government needs to come out of its habit of headline management and address the economic challenges which the country is facing today. “We cannot afford to deny that India is facing...

-The Indian Express This comes even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the 14th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification on Monday, mentioned that “we are focusing on ZBNF”. India’s premier academic body of agricultural scientists has hit out at Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), terming it as an “unproven” technology bringing no incremental value gain to either farmers or consumers. “The government should not needlessly invest capital...