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 …
A thin strip of land trapped between the Arabian Sea and the Kerala backwaters. This is Challanam in Ernakulam district. Freshwater used to be very scarce. Although it rains in torrents during the monsoon, the water would flow into the sea. Groundwater was useless due to ingress of saline water. …
Leftist politicians have a reputation across the world for being immensely centralised in their thinking. So, what was different in Kerala, where the major steps in the decentralisation drive have been taken by the ldf alliance? For one, the socioeconomic conditions desperately called for a change. For another, a highly …
Four years of decentralised planning have resulted in a functional division between state plans and local plans. Policy analysts say this would lead to subsequent material improvement in local life, for example, better management of agriculture and water resources. "An important change is the right focus of planning and, so, …
There are some clear indications of the air quality in Jharia and Dhanbad. The dust particles in the air contain carcinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbons (pahs), particulate matter smaller than 10 microns (pm10), carbon compounds and trace metals that are also carcinogenic, says D N Singh, scientist at Central Fuel Research Institute …
The future of the decentralisation process is uncertain, and the real threat comes from the bureaucracy. A wide spectrum of people - from political leaders to policy planners - share such fears. "The bureaucracy is organised, and is a great problem. Earlier there was stiff resistance from the bureaucracy to …
according to a recently published article, greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions reduction programme undertaken by us cities could help meet 10 per cent of the total target usa has to meet under its Kyoto Protocol obligations. Urban planners in the us believe that enthusiastic participation by the municipalities in such programmes …
a group of Maoist Communist Centre (mcc) extremists recently abducted a forester from the Hazaribagh National Park in Bihar. The officer was released after being subjected to mental torture for six hours by the mcc. The forester had committed the cardinal error of arresting a local person for taking away …
in may 1977, the 30th World Health Assembly adopted a resolution in which it decided that by the year 2000, all citizens of the world would attain a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life. This came to be known as "health …
the media was recently abuzz about consumers being able to use liquefied petroleum gas (lpg) to power their vehicles very soon. The cabinet approval permitting lpg's use in automobiles in early April had raised hopes of legal sanctions being drawn out immediately. But this is easier said than done. The …
it seems that the days of voluntary work and activism might soon be over. Of late the government has become intolerant to such people. Two cases with serious implications have come up in Goa. In one case, an animal rights campaigner was deported out of the country after being "hounded …
The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) has served legal notice to the secretaries of energy, mineral resources, environment and other concerned ministries for failing to take effective measures to protect the lives of workers in dangerous ship-breaking yards. The secretaries have been given 15-days time by BELA to ensure that …
The Chinese government's programme to achieve a "visible improvement" in the country's air quality within a span of 18 months, may be fulfilled four months earlier than expected. This is because the suppliers of ultra-low sulphur diesel, which is being imported for the implementation of this programme, have revised their …
what makes a nation strong? Democracy? Dictatorship? What makes a people happy? Economic liberalisation? Centrally planned economy? Well, the people who know and count in today's world, seem to consider only these two alternatives. But a few fools think of the possibility of a third path. I consider myself to …
India's forests have been a site of conflict for centuries. But it is only over the last decade that their history has become the subject of serious enquiry. The first wave of work focussed on the struggle put up by resistance movements against imperial and post-independence power structures from the …
the trouble with biotechnology is not that it is irretrievably sinister, but that its controllers have one ruthless and overriding motive in mind - profit. Existing global intellectual property rights (ipr) rules may as well have been ghost written by biotechnology and pharmaceutical mncs. And now, another diplomatic victory was …
the polluted lakes of Udaipur, some of which have dried up to 60 per cent, may finally get a fresh lease of life. Acting on a petition filed by the Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti ( jss ), an Udaipur-based non-governmental organisation ( ngo ), the Rajasthan High Court has ordered the …
The state of environment in Pakistan is "alarming' and is costing the country from US $1 billion to US $2.1 billion per year, which comes to 2.5 per cent to five per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This was stated by Jamil Asghar Bhatti, project manager of the …
Another day, another idle promise. This year the Indian ministry of environment and forests ( moef ) acknowledged the passing of June 5, World Environment Day, by announcing an Environment Protection Fund to create mass awareness, and a 15-25 per cent increase in funds for soil and water conservation. Like …
AS FAR AS the eye can see, it is a mass of horns in a desiccated, semi-arid landscape. The horns emerge sideways from the head, turn up, and then arch back at the tips, as if swept back by the wind. Kankrej, native to northern Gujarat, is quite a regal-looking …
