States are not sure if they will receive funds under the government’s flagship rural employment programme on time this year. Glitches in a governmentdeveloped software last year had delayed the digitised submission of progress reports by states, which is mandatory for sanction of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA). The ensuing delay in sanction of funds stalled ongoing work and affected implementation of new ones....

“It needs to be independent …. So it can't be pressured by the Prime Minister” With the Prime Minister's office intervening in several high-profile environment cases — most recently the Maheshwar dam issue — Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan has called for an independent environment regulator to be set up on the lines of the Lokpal. “It needs to be independent and autonomous of the government, so that it can't be pressured...

The health and women & child development ministries have refused to give an affidavit to the Supreme Court on how many children die of hunger in India every year. UNICEF says 50% of all the deaths of children aged below five years are from malnutrition. That works out to 2,438 children dying every day for lack of food. But no one in the government is ready to stick its neck out...

Endosulfan, the pesticide which is widely believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths, diseases and devastation, was able to save its own life largely because of India’s questionable efforts at global forums. The controversial pesticide has been in news for a long time because of its harmful effects on humans, wild life and the environment. Obviously the $100 million industry is going out of the way to defend the...

Public sector Hindustan Insecticides charged with polluting environment Repeated demands to shift hazardous wastes to common treatment facility ignored Pesticide residues leaching into neighbourhood The Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB) on Tuesday ordered Hindustan Insecticides Limited, Kochi, manufacturing endosulfan, to close down its operations on charges of environmental pollution. The public sector company has been asked to close down “all operations and process in the industry with immediate effect.” However, it will...