-Down to Earth MGNREGA budget has declined in real terms over the years, despite claims of “highest ever” allocations In 2004, before India had any legal welfare entitlements for the informal sector, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, was furiously debated in the Parliament and the media. The aim of this legislation was to address the crisis of under employment and unemployment in the rural economy and provide job opportunities through public works...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The bouts of rainfall that battered Houston, Mumbai and Calcutta last week, albeit in vastly different amounts, may earn tags of extreme rain events that weather scientists say are becoming more common under the influence of global warming. The tropical storm Harvey set a record for continental US with 132cm rainfall about 45km southeast of Houston on August 29. Mumbai's Santa Cruz weather station documented 31cm rain over...

-Frontline.in The death of nearly 60 children in Gorakhpur because of the unavailability of oxygen can be directly attributed to the larger issue of drastic reduction in budgetary allocations for and the gross neglect of the public health system. THE death of almost 60 children, including infants, in the government-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur within a span of 48 hours raises several issues relating to the state...

-Huffington Post blog A result of dysfunctional municipal planning and governance. The flooding woes of Indian cities have hit the headlines yet again, with Mumbai, Chandigarh, Bengaluru and Agartala being among the worst affected. As for the response to these crises—there is enough Evidence to indicate that the patchwork solutions that have been employed will work like steroid shots that might mitigate the issue temporarily, but worsen it in the future. Planning in...

-Livemint.com RBI annual report estimates value of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes returned was Rs 15.28 trillion against Rs 15.44 trillion in circulation before demonetisation Mumbai: According to Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) annual report released Wednesday, 98.96% of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes (by value) that were invalidated due to the demonetisation exercise had been returned by the end of June. The numbers put to rest one of the big...