Jharkhand's government schools have a massive teacher shortage, a survey by Gyan Vigyan Samiti Jharkhand has found. The survey was conducted in 138 primary and upper primary schools between September and October 2022 to assess their condition after the Covid-19 pandemic. Jharkhand's school system was shut for two years, among the longest in the world. Teachers told the surveyors they felt that most students had forgotten how to read and...

-Hindustan Times According to the revised norms, coal mines with environmental clearances to expand by 40%, can now expand by up to 50% without any environment impact assessment or public consultation The Union environment ministry has relaxed the mandatory compliance norms for coal mining expansion projects citing higher demand for coal amid an ongoing power crisis -- a move that has been criticised by environmentalists, especially since the coal ministry has said...

-Newsclick.in Production has dipped for the first time in the Modi era and procurement has plummeted, bringing wheat stocks down and affecting foodgrain-based schemes. The Narendra Modi-led Central government is going to be confronted with a crisis that it has never faced yet – shortage of wheat, one of India’s key staples. The worry about this looming cloud is aggravated by the fact that the Modi government has not been particularly successful...

-NDTV blog A huge part of India - northwest and central - has just experienced its hottest April on record. This is not just another heatwave. This is what scientists have been warning for decades, that global warming will lead to more frequent and more intense extreme weather events. And frequent spells of heatwaves. This time though something seems to have changed. A climate emergency has led to immediate repercussions outside the...

-Hindustan Times In view of the shortage of coal, a dominant fuel used to generate electricity in the country, the government halted hundreds of passenger trains. Meanwhile, state-run Coal India ramped up coal production by 27.2% in April. Several states across the country reeled under long power cuts, as hotter-than-normal temperatures pushed the electricity demand, triggering a major power crisis. According to a report by Reuters, electricity supply fell short of demand...