The World Economic Outlook – a bi-annual publication of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- released in October 2020 has anticipated that the economic progress made by the countries since the 1990s to reduce poverty would be turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of that, economic disparity would rise too in the post-COVID world because the crisis has disproportionately impacted women, informal sector workers and people with...

-Press release by Network of Rural and Agrarian Studies (NRAS), dated 30th November, 2020 The “State of Rural and Agrarian India Report 2020” was released by Dr. V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi today in an online webinar organised by the Network of Rural and Agrarian Studies (NRAS). This report is being brought out by the NRAS, which is a pan-India network of scholars, researchers, practitioners, farmers, students, and activists engaged...

-The Hindu Coastal Students’ Cultural Forum, an NGO, documents the indigenous knowledge of fishing community in the district through a community radio Kizhakkaafrican raajuvil Velameen entra raaniyum thekkaafrican raajuvil Nemmeen entra arasanum irukkirar (there lived the queen of East African region, Velameen and the king of South African territory, Nemmeen). Thiruvananthapuram: That is how James Pethiru starts his Tamil kathaprasangam (story-telling performance). Apparently, nemmeen (seer fish) proposes marriage to velameen (white snapper) only...

A report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which was released on July 6th (observed as World Zoonoses Day by research institutions and non-governmental organisations across the globe) this year, says that around 60 percent of known infectious diseases in humans are estimated to have an animal origin. Likewise, almost three-fourth of all new and emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic i.e. these diseases...

-The Hindu It is high time the government takes note of the fake schemes menace Here’s an exercise: Log onto any social media or technology platform, whether Google, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. Type the name of any of these “schemes” — Free Laptop Scheme, PM Scooty Yojana, PM Kisan Tractor Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Solar Panel Yojana, and PM Kanya Aashirwad Yojana. You will be promised anything from free vehicles to free funds...