Governance

While Covid-19 has left many countries including India in the line of fire, the situation in India is now getting particularly alarming with the number of people infected by Covid-19 rising at a rapid pace. While cases continue to rise in some of the major Indian cities, the situation in Northeast appears to be relatively better as compared to other states although cases appear to be rising. 

The nomenclature of cyclones and hurricanes is developed much in advance through multilateral processes in the region. The name Amphan (Sky in Thai and Akash in Bangla) was chosen from a long list of potential disasters long back. Originated in the warm waters of Bay of Bengal, Amphan hit the coastal eastern border of India and coastal southwest parts of Bangladesh in the third week of May.

Government approves Jal Jeevan Mission funds for Odisha and Chhattisgarh

The Jal Shakti Ministry has approved Rs 812 crores to Odisha government for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission for the financial year 2020-21.

In an effort to raise concerns around effective menstrual health, Menstrual Health Alliance India (MHAI), a network working on menstrual health and hygiene in India, Dasra, a philanthropic organisation and Change.org, a technology platform for social change hosted an online workshop recently to discuss the issue of access to menstrual products during Covid-19. 

The water crisis in India has been in the making for sometime now, and the current COVID-19 pandemic has further brought to fore the challenges of safe water and hygiene, necessary for survival. Given that approximately 600 million people are affected by some kind of water problems, we need to find solutions now, and we need these solutions to work at scale. 

With 85 percent of water being utilized for agriculture in India, a gradual shift in agriculture towards water-intensive crops have exposed the country to an increased threat of water crisis. The erratic nature of monsoons adds to this exposure and calls for judicious use of water resources, especially in the dry regions. Another factor contributing to this water stress is the rapid increase in urbanization. India’s urban population is expected to grow from 410 million in 2014 to 814 million in 2050 rendering urban water supply as a critical challenge.

Suddenly thrown out of work by a nationwide lockdown, the migrants who built our cities and our economies were forced to take the torturous walk away from the cities to their homes in rural India. As per the findings of a recent survey by the Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), New Delhi a new urban agenda focusing on dynamic urban planning processes and empowering the city governments is looked-for. The study points to the need for plugging the gaps instead of offering a hodgepodge of half-measures.

Cyclone Amphan causes widespread destruction in West Bengal

Swachh Survekshan for urban India: Navi Mumbai, Rajkot, Indore among the top