-International Institute for Environment and Development, July 2020 The working paper entitled 'Deepening knowledge of MGNREGS’ contribution to climate resilience: A study of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh' strengthens the robust evidence base behind the climate resilience contribution of social protection, by investigating India’s largest social protection programme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Guaranteeing 100 days’ paid wage labour to rural households that demand it and another 50...

-TheWire.in Floods which are a recurring phenomenon in the northeast Indian state of Assam have hit the state heavily this year but healthcare workers have risen to the occasion serving the people by battling both flood and novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The floods have affected around 2.9 million (29 lakh) people across 26 districts covering about 80 percent of Assam’s total area (till July 24). As many as 103 people have...

-Down to Earth Allocation of village land for the development of solar and wind parks at the cost of pasture land is detrimental for villages Residents of Devikot village in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer district are fighting to protect a sacred grove that caters to the forage requirements of more than 35,000 large and small animals in the area. Sacred groves are areas of natural vegetation protected by village communities due to religious reasons. Historically,...

-The Hindu Business Line In Himachal Pradesh, the scheme comes as a breather to those who lost their jobs Nand Lal was working in an electronics company at Parwanoo, an industrial town in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, when the first lockdown was announced, in March. He had no choice but to come back to Surah, his village in the Murhag panchayat of Mandi district. Since then, he has already worked for 56...

-CaravanMagazine.in As swarms of desert locusts descended upon India this year, toxic insecticides were sprayed over two lakh hectares of land to contain their spread. But the measure could have serious Environmental and health consequences. India’s Locust Warning Organization, or LWO, a body under the ministry of agriculture, uses fifteen different formulations of eight insecticides for controlling their spread. Five of these insecticides are banned, restricted or withdrawn in one or...