-The Hindu Personal data of 1.5 crore PDS beneficiaries laid bare without password protection Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government may have compromised the privacy of Public Distribution System beneficiaries, by making available their personal information online. Personal data such as monthly income, electoral card details, consumer numbers of power and cooking gas connections of 1.5 crore residents were published on the Civil Supplies website, throwing open the possibility of misuse by private companies and...

Expanding irrigation network in the country is considered as essential to raise agricultural production in the face of increased frequency of droughts. However, a newly released report from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare shows that there has actually been a fall in the growth rate of net irrigated area during the recent two decades. The report entitled State of Indian Agriculture 2015-16 reveals that the growth rate in...

-TheWire.in Swayam Shikshan Prayog, a Maharashtra-based non-profit, is helping women become clean energy pioneers, in an initiative that has earned them a UN climate award. Varsha Pawar of Osmanabad district in Maharashtra was like any other housewife till she started selling solar cook stoves and lamps in her neighbourhood a little over a year ago. Life was never the same again. Today, she is the sarpanch (village council chief) of Tirth Khurd,...

-PTI N Chandrababu Naidu said access to electricity was a key socio-economic development indicator, but this was an area where there was still a significant gap in India. Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh has become the second state in the country after Gujarat to achieve 100 per cent electrification of households, a latest report has said. JM Financials published the report based on a national-level survey on electrification in various states. Discussing this through a tele-conference with top officials...

-The Hindu A reasonable aim of 1,500 MT of coal production by 2022 and a calibrated renewable energy push should enable reaching ambitious targets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s style is to set ambitious targets with impossible-looking deadlines. Perhaps he is inspired by a Gujarati poet who said, “Nishaan chuk maaf, nahi neechu nishaan” (missing the target can be forgiven, setting a low target cannot). This challenges his colleagues and staff to accomplish...