-Press release by Samyukta Kisan Morcha dated 17th April, 2022 On the call of Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the MSP Guarantee Week was observed from April 11th to 17th by the farmers across the country — Protests, demonstrations, meets, conventions, Seminars and other programs were held across the country Despite SKM’s repeated requests for clarifications regarding the committee on MSP, vis-à-vis its composition, its mandate, its tenure, and its terms of reference, the...

-Down to Earth The city's inadequate drainage system results in frequent flooding, it says Kolkata in West Bengal has something to cheer about: Its much-criticised public transport system got an elaborate mention in the third instalment of the sixth assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). The most significant report on the global climate crisis referred to the city’s public transport network as an “illustrative case study” to showcase integrated...

-The Hindu The existing approach of dealing with surface water and groundwater independently has severe limitations The theme of this year’s World Water Day (March 22) was ‘Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible’. The primary focus is to draw attention to the role of groundwater in water and sanitation systems, agriculture, industry, ecosystems, and climate change adaptation. Groundwater helps reduce the risk of temporary water shortage and caters to the needs of arid...

-Business Standard Borrower cannot be charged any amount not been explicitly mentioned in a factsheet, says regulator. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday released its final guidelines for microfinance loans, lifting an interest cap and allowing companies to have a board-approved policy to price for such lending. The RBI will continue checking that microfinance institutions do not charge usurious rates. The regulator said each entity has to disclose pricing related information...

In the absence of income or expenditure-based headcount ratio, the growth in the real wages (i.e., nominal wages adjusted against retail inflation) of the manual workers is considered to be a good proxy to assess the trends in poverty. This is because the manual, unskilled/ Semi-skilled labourers exist at the bottom of the pyramid or economic hierarchy, and most of them belong to the social categories Scheduled Castes (SCs) and...