Only 8% of India are farmers - is the census accurate?

Yes! Numbers don’t lie. The misconception that 53% of India are farmers exists because of the confusion on the definition of who actually is a ‘farmer’ between the census , police and state governments. Sadly, this confusion simply masks the tragedy of increased farmer suicides across the nation.

Don’t blame the monsoons for India’s water shortage

With 25 million people being added every year, India’s per capita water consumption and availability are completely out of sync. Although an average monsoon has been forecast, it may not be enough to solve the pending crisis in the country, which is already reeling under the effects of poor water management.

Arunachal government revokes Jindal’s shares

Jindal’s 49% equity shares in hydel power projects in Arunachal Pradesh were revoked recently.

Can Bangalore become a Singapore?

Apparently not, at least not when it comes to reusing sewage water. Singapore treats its sewage and reuses it as 'new water' but Bangalore is forced to use untreated sewage water as its borewells and groundwater are contaminated by sewage. How much more life does the city have?

The Environment Ministry plays ‘passing the buck’

The Environment Ministry formed a new committee to fine tune Gadgil committees report on the Western Ghats which has come up with its own controversial recommendations. The new report does not review and refine the earlier report, but instead provides an alternative framework and recommendations that call for just 37 per cent of the Western Ghats to be an ecologically sensitive area.

So many ways to conserve water

A Pune based NGO has implemented water saving measures including trapping rain water in many Maharashra villages.

Similarly, in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram, an NGO's efforts at holistic water harvesting measures like farm ponds, percolation ponds and afforestation have resulted in increasing ground water levels. 

This is a roundup of important news from May 6 - 12, 2013.