-Down to Earth Scarcity, conservation, equitable and fair use of limited resources does not apply to them. Migration is an important phenomenon with considerable social, economic and cultural implications. The ‘ghost-villages’ of Uttarakhand are well-known, abandoned by the local population who had left in search of employment, education, health, water and food security, and basic infrastructure. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is not just a health crisis. It has highlighted the underlying economic...

-NDTV.com The centre in its affidavit also said due to increased health expenses and low tax revenue it is beyond states' budget to pay compensation for lakhs of Covid victims. New Delhi: Families of Covid victims cannot be paid compensation as it applies to natural disasters only, the government told the Supreme Court, adding that states cannot afford to pay ₹ 4 lakh to every victim. In a 183-page affidavit filed late...

-Newsclick.in Modi government has been mercilessly hiking up taxes on petrol and diesel to take money from the people and boost its resources. Since the prices of petroleum products were deregulated some years back and supposedly “linked” to markets, the central government has weaponised this to simply impose an indirect tax burden on the people. Take the four big metros: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. On an average, petrol prices have increased from...

-Down to Earth The proposed 804 mega watt Jangi Thopan Powari hydroelectricity project over the Satluj threatens life, livelihood and ecology in the basin The people of Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, are fighting another battle besides the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic — saving their rivers and forests threatened by a hydroelectric project. The residents of the valley have been protesting against the proposed 804 mega watt Jangi Thopan Powari hydroelectricity project (JTP HEP)...

-Hindustan Times The Centre and states are at war, but India urgently needs a coordinated response. It’s not too late. But soon it will be In an influential paper published over a decade ago, the economist Lant Pritchett described India as a “flailing State” — in which the head, that is the elite institutions at the national level (and, in some cases, state level) remained sound and functional but was no longer...