-Down to Earth Successive droughts lead to a substantial and unsustainable expansion of cropland at the expense of forested lands “Droughts are misery in slow motion” with impacts even deeper than previously believed. Although floods pose major economic threats, water scarcity and drought may be causing long-term harm in ways that are poorly understood and inadequately documented, claims Uncharted waters: the new economics of water scarcity and variability, a report by...
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RATion advice to states
-The Telegraph New Delhi: The government has instructed states not to deny benefits under the public distribution system to beneficiaries who don't have Aadhaar numbers or haven't linked their RATion cards to the biometric identifier, the directive coming after a Jharkhand girl's recent death from alleged starvation. It has also asked state governments not to delete eligible households from the list of PDS beneficiaries for non-possession of Aadhaar cards and warned of...
More »Harprit Kaur, head of the Psychology Department in Punjabi University, interviewed by Meenakshi Sushma (Down to Earth)
-Down to Earth A new study is focusing on identifying vulnerable farmers in Punjab, Maharashtra and Telangana, the three states that experience high RATe of suicide In India, farmer suicide is an issue that has been talked about widely. The cases of farmers’ suicide rose by 42 per cent between 2014 and 2015. In 2015, one farmer committed suicide every hour. The latest report of the National Crime Bureau (NCB) shows that...
More »National Mineral Policy Review - A Golden Chance for Change -Rahul Basu
-TheWire.in While illegal mining is worrying, what is little understood is the enormous loot that is taking place legally. Mineral owners sometimes receive less than 5% of the value of minerals. The three iron ore scams in Karnataka, Goa and Odisha have some things in common. There were widespread and diverse breaches of the constitution, laws, rules and regulations. The environment was badly damaged. The minerals were being exhausted. Enormous corruption was...
More »Government may go beyond Aadhaar to verify mobile numbers -Pankaj Doval
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Faced with criticism for forcing people to link their Aadhaar numbers with their mobile connection, thereby creating scope for privacy invasion, the government is considering the option of allowing other identity proofs to complete the verification process. These IDs could include RATion card, driver's license and passport. "We are ready to explore other options. We are looking at whether a RATion card, or a driver's license,...
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