The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
for andhra farmers: The government has formed a 13-member commission to examine the agricultural system of Andhra Pradesh and formulate an action plan to strengthen it so that the high rate of suicides by farmers can be checked. The state's agriculture minister N Raghuveera Reddy said the commission will also …
Should fly ash be treated as waste or a useful byproduct? The Indian government and its Central Public Works Department (cpwd) don't agree on this matter. The result: gross underutilisation of this coal combustion product, leading to environmental damages and financial loss. The government promotes the use of fly ash …
mineral-rich Orissa is being eyed by the corporate sector seeking to cash in on its iron ore reserves. Work on projects worth Rs 30,000 crore has already begun in the last two years and the Orissa government is considering investment proposals of another Rs 1,22,000 crore. The state's industry department …
the Union ministry of environment and forests (moef) has done a double take on its commitments and stalled the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (nbsap). The nbsap is a national obligation under the un Convention on Biological Diversity. It is a multi-stakeholder plan being worked upon since 1999 as …
Union Ministry of Communications, India The Union minister of communications Dayanidhi Maran has elaborate plans to increase Internet usage in India. And if he has his way, many Indian netizens
When Neena Khanna from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences called to tell us that her patient who lives in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh had high levels of arsenic in his blood, hair and nails, we were stunned. Why Ballia? We knew of arsenic in West Bengal and …
In a recent recall referendum the people of Venezuela reaffirmed their faith in President Hugo Chavez. As a token of gratitude Chavez vowed to step up certain agricultural reforms. However, the "revolutionary' social policy, like many others before it, promises to generate more controversy than good. The government plans to …
Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has said her government would soon formulate a comprehensive plan to keep Dhaka free from floods and waterlogging. The announcement was made in response to a demand by the people living in the Dhaka-Narayanganj-Dam embankment areas. The move attempts to create the eastern bypass-cum-embankment …
will the mid-term review of the 10th five-year plan mark its end? Or will it be used to make the rest of the plan push towards the implementation of the United Progressive Alliance's (upa) common minimum programme (cmp)? Before the more than 350 experts review the 10th plan, the process …
the Union government recently announced that Indian scientists had achieved "the first success in developing a new therapeutic molecule for tuberculosis (tb) treatment since the discovery of rifampicin in 1963'. While the discovery of the new chemical compound is a reality, Union Science and technology minister Kapil Sibal went overboard …
I never thought I would write in defence of the Indian state. But I am. The de-construction of the notion of public space and the practice of public service is evident and will cripple us enormously. But I am also clear that re-construction will demand considerable innovation. We will be …
Dinanath Singh has a cancerous wound on his left foot from which blood and pus continuously ooze. He has black and white spots (lesions) all over his body. The 61-year-old also suffers from skin cancer. Two fingers of his left hand had developed ulcers and had to be amputated. His …
In July 2004, the Union ministry of water resources was asked a question in parliament on the extent of contamination of water by arsenic and fluoride. The ministry replied that arsenic had affected the following eight districts of West Bengal
The government deigns to recognise the arsenic problem only in West Bengal and one district of Bihar. But recent studies prove the presence of the contaminant in several other states too: Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. As early as 1991, the Jadavpur University of West Bengal and the United …
There is no doubt that arsenic is present in Ballia. But why is it there? Is there anything common between the geology of this place and West Bengal, or any other affected area? Why aren't natural arsenic poisoning cases reported from Delhi or Mumbai on a widescale? Why are most …
It is one thing for scientific theories on arsenic contamination to conflict with each other. But it is another when it plays out in real life. We know that arsenic interweaves with the geology and hydrology of the place where it is found, or not. It is also known that …
Shankar Sharma, vice-chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC) of Nepal, recently admitted that the country would be unable to achieve the Millennium Development Goals if the Maoist activity was not curbed immediately. This is the first such statement by a senior government official. According to government estimates, nearly two-thirds of …
A recent direction by the Supreme Court of India (sc) on the upcoming Akshardham temple in Delhi has opened a can of worms: blatant master plan violations, by the Delhi government itself. These
In Nagpur city, women gather outside a court. In broad daylight they lynch a local serial rapist. When four women are arrested, few hundred women own up to the crime. They say they killed Akku Yadav because the local police did little to stop his criminal reign of terror; they …
