Revised draft water policy allows for subsidy to the poor and in non-commercial farming Public outcry against indiscriminate pricing of water and privatisation of water delivery Services has forced the Centre to back off on both counts in its revised draft of the new national water policy, a copy of which is available with The Hindu . The revised draft, that incorporates suggestions from the public as well as state governments, allows...

There are major issues at stake in the Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development to be held on 20-22 June. Yet governments of developing countries have not given adequate importance to the run-up to the conference. As has happened in the climate change negotiations, the outcome draft now under negotiation shows a concerted move to rewrite the terms of global environmental governance. There is an attempt to push through the decidedly...

‘BSNL chosen for project without tender process and it has quoted high price' The Department of Telecommunication's plans to go for extensive erection of mobile towers in the Left-Wing extremism-affected areas, to help people and the security forces stay connected, have been opposed by the Finance Ministry, which cited selection of the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for the project without following any tender process and its quoting high costs for...

-The Indian Express Jairam Ramesh’s criticism of NREGA highlights that a rights-based approach to poverty reduction cannot work without improving implementation The clamour for the right to social pensions is another attempt to deal with the Indian state’s inability to provide adequate social protection to its poorest citizens through targeted programmes. India’s vulnerable continue to be excluded from social safety nets. The multi-layered problems with social welfare schemes can be summarised in...

-The Times of India Asia and the Pacific is consuming more resources than its ecosystems can sustain, threatening the future of the region's beleaguered forests, rivers, and oceans as well as the livelihoods of those who depend on them, says a new joint report by the Asian Development Bank ( ADB) and WWF. The joint ADB-WWF study, Ecological Footprint and Investment in Natural Capital in Asia and the Pacific, focuses on ways...