The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
A women development programme is changing the face of Rajasthan's countryside Something unique is being done in the countryside of Rajasthan, in the self-help groups (shgs) formed in the villages. Following keen interest shown in the matter by chief minister Vasundhera Raje, poor women who live in abject poverty in …
The World Bank Group will increase its lending to India over the next four years. The bank's executive directors approved an annual target of us $3 billion on August 26 in Washington dc, usa. It will be invested in infrastructure projects, human development and on securing rural livelihoods. Two policy …
the Madhya Pradesh (mp) government is drawing considerable flak over its move to change the state's panchayati raj structure. A state cabinet meeting on July 29, 2004 decided to bring about the first major changes in the Madhya Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, and the Gram Swaraj Act, 2001. The …
The Planning Commission has recently mooted the Rashtriya Sam Vikas Yojana (rsvy) to ensure minimum livelihood to people in the country's most backward districts. As per the commission's latest plans, rsvy will target more than 100 districts. Most of these have been identified through the use of an index that …
A World Bank report on fiscal decentralisation to Panchayati Raj Institutions (pris) has reinforced the argument that decentralised governance in India will not work without genuine fiscal decentralisation. India: Fiscal Decentralization to Rural Governments analysed fiscal decentralisation in Kerala and Karnataka
In 1994, the Hanumantha Rao committee constituted by the Union government came up with a new set of guidelines for watershed development in the country. Later, the Union ministry for rural development issued a directive to implement micro watershed (up to 500 hectares) projects through village level committees. However, impact …
function graph() { var popurl="image/20040731/8-graph.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=600,height=500,scrollbars=yes") } finance minister (fm) P Chidambaram's budget for 2004-2005 is actually the interim budget presented by his predecessor Jaswant Singh of the National Democratic Alliance (nda). There are minor variations in allocations. The two exceptions are defence (an additional Rs 11,700 crore) and the …
THERE is something rotten in the debate on direct rural development funding to the districts (see: "Devolution meet a damp squib"). First, let's look at how the Union government approaches the issue. It is tired of state governments' steady refusal to decentralise real power
June 7 saw the life of Binda bai, a tribal woman belonging to Golkheda village in Madhya Pradesh's (mp) Khargone district, change drastically for the worse. The day had begun on a normal enough note, with her husband Jawan Singh setting off to work in his fields. But the 55-year-old …
the Union minister for panchayati raj, Mani Shankar Aiyar, is a worried man. Even before he could select his personal staff and a place for the newly created ministry of panchayati raj affairs (mopra), questions are being raised about the efficacy of carving out this section from the Union ministry …
as the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (upa) took the reins after handing out a shock defeat to the National Democratic Alliance in the recent general elections, Planning Commission officials went into a tizzy. Senior advisers were busy ferreting out information pertaining to the agenda set by the United Front (uf) …
www.thinkcycle.org Many intellectual exercises are slanted copy left. So why not design? Well, now there is a non-profit initiative engaged in supporting distributed collaboration towards design challenges among underserved communities: www.thinkcycle.org. The site seeks to create a culture of open-source design innovations. Through it, The Open Source Research Community at …
The Government of India has finally promulgated a rehabilitation policy for project displaced persons (dp). This policy has been in the making since 1985. That year it was found that tribals, who are around 8 per cent of the country's, population constituted 40 per cent of those displaced by development …
In February, 100-odd people got together at the quaint little town of Baramati. All had a common goal: to exchange ideas on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for development. Tucked away in the heart of south Maharashtra's sugar belt, Baramati has, for four years now, played host …
On the evening of January 24, social activists Sarita and Maheshkant attended a meeting at Shabdo village in Bihar's Gaya district. Soon after the villagers saw them off, they heard gunshots. They ran down to the main road in the neighbouring Rajabigha village and found Sarita lying in a pool …
The government of India has for long considered watersheds as catalysts for development activities in rain-fed areas. In 1994, it developed guidelines for implementation of watershed programmes. These were subsequently revised, in 2001, by the department of land resources of the ministry of rural development and circulated as guidelines for …
Back in the 20th century, when India had villages, there were several popular films that showed villages in a contemporary light. Well, somewhat. While Indian cinema was urban from its very beginning, there were several films of immense popularity that were, in many ways, a statement of the presence of …
