-IndiaWaterPortal.org Calculating water availability and crop budgeting can prevent over-extraction of groundwater and mounting farm debt. At 42 years, Bhagwat Ghagare seems young. But he is old enough to have seen his village prosper and decline many times. Farming had traditionally been small and distress migration rampant at Kumbharwadi in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. Between 1998 and 2002, a non-profit organisation, Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), initiated a work related to rainwater harvesting...

-The Telegraph The CSE alleges that the surveyors did not visit all the cities they ranked Calcutta: The recently released annual survey report on the Swachh Bharat mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project, paints an “over-exaggerated” picture of its success and is riddled with “anomalies”, an environment think tank has claimed. The Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment has said the Swachh Survekshan 2019 was a rushed job, sped up to allow...

-The Hindu Do UN strategies to deal with sexual harassment and ensure gender parity offer examples to follow? For more than a century, March 8 has marked International Women’s Day — a global day celebrating the achievements of women and promoting gender equality worldwide. But as we pause to celebrate our many advances, we must also acknowledge how much remains to be done. Interlinked issues Two interconnected issues have emerged as priorities over the...

-The Indian Express Barkha Dutt has alleged that she was receiving threatening phone calls and obscene pictures. On February 19, the National Commission for Women (NCW) had asked Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik to initiate "speedy investigation" into the matter. The Cyber Cell of Delhi police Wednesday registered an FIR in connection with the alleged harassment of journalist Barkha Dutt on Social Media. Dutt had alleged that she was receiving threatening...

-Frontline.in Available evidence indicates that the employment situation in India may have worsened in the recent past, and the losses have been heavy for the informal sector. The delayed release of official data on employment only makes diagnosis difficult. This year’s Union Budget, even if truncated because of its interim nature, was widely anticipated for the manner in which it would address the question of employment. In the last week of January,...