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 …
In the last week of February this year, the Election Commission office in Delhi sent an urgent request for 30 tonnes of lac for use as sealant during the coming general elections. The request sent officials in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand
in the wake of strong protests by community forest user groups (cfugs) and conservationists, the Nepal government has reduced the controversial forest product fee
The Bankariyas, a forest-dweller community of central Nepal, have been uprooted from their traditional habitat and are living like refugees in their own country. Several other indigenous groups have suffered the same fate. The eight-year-old war between the Royal Nepal Army (rna) and Maoist rebels that has ravaged the country's …
Root to Canopy: regenerating forests though community-state partnerships provides comprehensive coverage of the changes made in the Indian forestry sector during the last decade with respect to Joint Forest Management. The book covers the evolution of JFM in India, the experience of each state, and emerging issues.
The Ministry of of Environment and Forests had been bringing out forest statistics based on the data received from the States/UTs. Efforts have been made in the Ministry in obtaining and compiling the data from the States/UTs on important parameters relating to forestry and wildlife and bringing it out in …
the community forest user groups (cfugs) of Nepal will now be required to cough up a steep 40 per cent fee on their total income from sale of forest products. The Nepal government brought in the levy through an ordinance promulgated on July 18. It goes against the grain of …
• India has 16,000 recorded plant species. About 3,000 of these yield minor forest produce (MFP). • Nearly 500 million people living in and around forests in India depend on MFP for sustenance and as a supplement to their income • Studies in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar …
"Is environmental history merely the recording of loss and decline, a narrative about the sinking of the Titanic as it were?' asked Richard Grove at the concluding session of the
It is five o'clock in the morning. I am inside Jharkhand's Khellari forest, on assignment. In the first light of morning, the forest looks lush and dark green. Suddenly, a frail frame
What if Phulmai did not exist. You can meet her in the forest; follow her for a day; listen to what she says and so complete half an assignment. The other half lies in accounting for her, and all those like her who spend their lives headloading. Step out of …
On World Environment Day this year, the Gas Authority of India Limited (gail) spent a small fortune issuing a colour advertisement in newspapers urging us to use plastic. gail wanted us to know this: by using plastic, we would save 20 million trees matured over 10 years especially for packaging …
The Supreme Court has suggested that the forested states, which lose revenue because of the ban on felling of trees should be compensated for keeping their forests intact. Protection of the biological hotspots should be the responsibility of the country, says the court, and therefore, if the state protects its …
death is a seasonal visitor to Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh's largest district and wasteland. It comes just before sowing and after the harvest of groundnut, a cash crop that occupies 91 per cent of land in the district. More than 100 groundnut farmers have committed suicide since the last two years …
when Bhuna Bhil of Pathara village in Dungarpur ran away from the communal carnage in Gujarat, he faced a dilemma: what would he do back in his village? It had already exhausted all his sources of livelihood. Known as the 20th century desert, Dungarpur's 68 per cent population has been …
Poverty in Sarguja district has taken epic proportions. Unlike in the Mahabharat, the descendants of Pandavas and Kauravas have come together to fight a common enemy in Sarguja: poverty. And their fight is as heroic as the Mahabharat. Pandos, the local tribals and descendants of the Pandavas, are fighting for …
Irrigation is a luxury that only a few can afford in Mandla, a water-rich district in Madhya Pradesh. The district receives an annual rainfall of 1,300 mm, which can easily sustain three crops a year. But Mandla residents can barely manage one. The district is surrounded by the mighty Narmada …
While the Union government is bothered about the high cost of storing surplus foodgrain, groundnut farmers in Anantapur commit suicide. Clearly, measures of poverty need changing. Policymakers must now take into account the time spent by women to collect firewood or water. This distance needs to be shortened as this …
Rabindra Nath Mishra, an additional block development officer, is a bit worried. He thought calculating Phulbani's poor, as directed by the Supreme Court, would be easy. The expenditure limit of Rs 250 per month (as the decisive line between poverty and prosperity) seemed a ridiculous amount. But when the final …
according to a report of the comptroller and auditor general of India pertaining to the year 2000-2001, the forest department of Assam incurred a loss of Rs 15.14 crore in 72 cases. Revenue amounting to Rs 9.07 crore was lost due to damage of timber, Rs 1.6 crore for delay …
