-Science.thewire.in * In the near-term, the IPCC report reaffirms that India can no longer afford to ignore the very real developmental challenge that climate change poses at home. * In a significant development, the government’s statement contains a clear and welcome acknowledgement of the relationship between climate change and extreme events. * To embark on a low-carbon development pathway, however, India will need an institutional architecture with a more strategic bent. “It is unequivocal...

-TheWire.in The current, complex payments systems employed by the government must give way to simple, decentralised systems to ensure greater accountability as empower local governing bodies. The Union government’s approach to payments under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has been a ridiculous joke, played on the workers who wait for their hard-earned money for a long time. Many do not get their payments at all, owing to various local malpractices....

-Newsclick.in The government’s brazen class bias is crystal clear, as it gives away national assets built with public money to its favourite capitalists, together with tax breaks. Junior Minister for Rural Development in the Central government, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, ruled out in Parliament any increase in the amount of monthly pension given by the Centre to the elderly under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). The amount currently being given to each...

-TheWire.in There is no scientific way to erect a hydroelectric power project in the Garhwal Himalaya because erecting such a project itself would be unscientific. We use the term ‘roof on our heads’ to denote safety and security, but for sixteen families of Jugju, an area of Raini village in Uttarakhand’s Niti valley, the roof over their heads has been unstable and dangerous. Many social media users shared a video earlier this week...

-Newslaundry.com Last week, the high court had dismissed his petition on being threatened and intimidated inside the courtroom by other advocates. It was 5.30 pm by the time Nitish got home, visibly exhausted and clutching a plastic bag of vegetables. His three-year-old daughter came running towards him, gleefully yelling, “Papa, papa.” She clung to his legs while he laughed and tried to walk. In any other household, this wouldn’t be an unusual moment....