-Newslaundry.com The state’s River Training Policy appears designed to allow near unfettered mining of sand and boulders by private contractors, bypassing green clearance and scientific assessment. In November 2020, a few months before floods ravaged Uttarakhand, the deputy collector of Purnagiri in Tanakpur district announced an open auction of tenders to desilt the riverbed in Champawat’s villages. Tenders for government work usually seek the lowest bidder, the contractor willing to do the job...

-The Hindu The inflows during 2020-21 have not been in sync with the Government’s priorities for economic recovery In an otherwise gloomy economic scenario, one area of cheer for the Government has been the numbers on inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI). In a recent press release, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced that “India has attracted highest ever total FDI inflow of U.S.$81.72 billion during the financial year 2020-21 and...

-GaonConnection.com Karnataka has about 40,000 lakes and close to 10,000 lakes have already disappeared. In the wake of authorities failing to do enough to conserve these lakes, the Karnataka High Court has asked the government to decentralise the mechanism of lake governance both in rural and urban areas by involving local bodies. More details here. Directing a new model of water bodies’ governance in the state, the Karnataka High Court, on June...

-Down to Earth Bihar usually gets heavy rains in July and August; floods in June are an unusual occurrence, experts said Several villages have been flooded after 3-4 days of early monsoon rains in the catchment areas of the Gandak and Burhi Gandak rivers in Nepal and north Bihar. Affected districts include West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj and Muzaffarpur. Other rivers including the Bagmati, Koshi, Kamla Balan, Bhuthi Balan and Ghaghara are also...

-The Hindu The facility will povide support to infants and young children at risk of or with disabilities. The Union Social Justice and Empowerment (SJE) Ministry on Thursday launched 14 cross disability early intervention centres across the country to provide support to infants and young children at risk of or with disabilities. SJE Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot virtually inaugurated the centres that are located at seven national institutes and seven composite regional centres of...