-Down to Earth The number should be reduced from the current 169 targets A development expert, Morten Jerven, has estimated that the world might end up spending close to $250 billion just to monitor UN development goals for 2030. In a report, Jerven proposes that governments should cut down the number of targets from the current 169 to avoid over-spending. According to Reuters, world leaders will set new sustainable development objectives-such as improving...
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Land conundrum and the hunger games -Prasanna Mohanty & Kaushik Dutta
-The Financial Express A mechanism is needed to compensate farmers for not exercising their right to sell productive land but continue to grow foodgrains. India finds itself in a piquant situation. While its population, and with it the number of poor, is growing, its cultivable land is not only shrinking, more worryingly, the economic returns of the agricultural use are diminishing vis-a-vis non-agricultural use. The situation may not be alarming right now,...
More »National Optical Fibre Network plan likely to miss first target -Shauvik Ghosh
-Live Mint State-run companies laying cable at speed of 500km a month, much slower than 30,000km per month rate needed New Delhi: The Rs.20,000 crore National Optical Fibre Network plan that aims to connect 250,000 gram panchayats (village councils) across the country with high-speed Internet Access is likely to miss its first target of linking 100,000 gram panchayats by March. The three state-run companies tasked with the job of laying optical fibre...
More »Caste walls at crematoriums broken down -Rakhee Roy Talukdar
-The Telegraph Jaipur: Death owes this to the living. In this desert state, it is once more the great leveller. It needed a prod from a blindfolded lady with scales, but social workers say it's a big step forward towards ending years of caste-based discrimination that did not even spare the dead. Maybe, not much longer. Here's the story. The Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) has "removed" signposts and covered boards at crematoriums that marked...
More »More men among toilet-sceptics in India -Rukmini S
-The Hindu The figure for households without toilets is 47 per cent for Hindu households as against 31 per cent for Muslims and 16 per cent for Christians and Sikhs, according to NSS data. Extensive new evidence shows that building toilets alone will not eliminate open defecation in India as not everyone who has Access to toilet, especially men, believe that it's important to use it. Not having a toilet remains the major...
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