ECO-KNOW-MICS
The case for Material Literacy

We know surprisingly little about where our stuff comes from and even less about where it goes after we are done using it. And that's making climate change worse.

#Trade #Waste #Environment
SEPARATION OF POWERS
SC clarifies states' power to tax mining

Apex court ruling comes as a boost to mineral-rich states. The interpretation of the court in this verdict could also give states more power to raise their own taxes, which been diluted significantly in recent years.

#Mining #Public Funds #Government #JHARKHAND #ODISHA
CIRCULARITY
Inclusive circularity: Waste-free, and just too

Encouraging the use of products for as long as possible does more than optimizing the use of natural resources. It can support sustainable innovation and  efficiency, and do so without diminishing the profitability of businesses.

#Consumers #Energy #Waste #Economy
ECO-KNOW-MICS

We know surprisingly little about where our stuff comes from and even less about where it goes after we are done using it. And that's making climate change worse.

SEPARATION OF POWERS

Apex court ruling comes as a boost to mineral-rich states. The interpretation of the court in this verdict could also give states more power to raise their own taxes, which been diluted significantly in recent years.

CIRCULARITY

Encouraging the use of products for as long as possible does more than optimizing the use of natural resources. It can support sustainable innovation and  efficiency, and do so without diminishing the profitability of businesses.

DRIVERS OF GROWTH
India’s new growth recipe: Larger firms

Large Indian firms are yet to become global champions. India should focus on improving their competitiveness so that they can tap into large external markets far more than they have managed so far.

#Trade #Economy #Government
A PACHYDERM'S DIET
Elephants need to eat a lot, but are selective

A study in northern West Bengal found elephants are selective with their diet, feeding on less than half the species of plants around them. This is contradictory to the prevalent view that elephants are generalist feeders. Nabarun Guha reports.

#Forests #Wildlife #Environment #WEST BENGAL
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
SC opens the door to autonomy in abortions

The apex court recognised that narrow patriarchal principles and assumptions about permissible sex are limiting the legal options available to pregnant persons, and lead them to unsafe alternatives. 

#Gender Violence #Health Laws #Women's Health #Women
INDIAN GIANT SQUIRREL
IGS numbers decline as forests become less dense

The Indian Giant Squirrel is an indicator species. Its declining numbers tell us that conservation needs a holistic approach where the focus is as much on the habitat as on the animals themselves. 

#Forests #Wildlife #Environment
FINANCE REGULATION
How well are securities laws enforced in India?

An analysis of over 8,000 enforcement orders passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India over a span of ten years provides insight into the use of its powers by the institution, and its priorities. 

#Economy #Government
RENEWABLES AND JOBS
Can DRE projects stem the tide of migration?

The renewable energy sector is steadily adding jobs, and this trend is likely to continue, say researchers. But women's participation in this workforce is low, and financing difficulties need to be overcome.

#Energy #Livelihoods #Economy
SUNDARBANS MANGROVES
Satellite images reveal impact of frequent cyclones

Scientists examining satellite images find that cyclone-induced damage slows the recovery of mangroves and changes the forest composition in comparison to other regions that didn't witness many cyclones. 

#Climate #Forests #Environment #WEST BENGAL
INEQUALITY
The need to spatialise human rights in cities

Informal settlements, despite containing a majority of the people, are treated as aberrations. Forced to live outside legal sanction, the poor are condemned to a degraded quality of life.

#Cities #Urban Poor #Government #Human Rights
TRADITIONAL FOODS
Re-seeding the past for a better future

Tribal communities in Similipal are being encouraged to conserve seeds and water, use bio-inputs and inter-crop millets with other crops. Farmers are optimistic that this can bring them food security and better livelihoods. 

#Adivasis #Land #Organic #Agriculture #ODISHA
YIELDS AND LIVELIHOODS
Has precision farming's moment arrived
YIELDS AND LIVELIHOODS : Has precision farming's moment arrived

India needs to grow a lot more food, and do it sustainably to be able to meet its future food security and also keep its climate commitments. Precision farming is still nascent in the country, but could offer a way forward.

#Land #Organic #Agriculture
TAX TRIBUNAL
GSTAT: An urgent necessity and opportunity

The GST Appellate Tribunal is already much-delayed, and the apex court has directed the government to set it up swiftly. It presents a greenfield opportunity to build a completely online dispute resolution system.

#Trade #Economy #Laws
AFFORESTATION
Missing the forest for the CAMPA trees

Global commitments and domestsic laws are driving afforestation. But conservationists argue that large scale tree plantations can do more harm than good if we overlook the nuances, and that all that is green is not forest. 

#Climate #Forests #Environment
WELFARE STATE
RJ, TN move towards universal health care

The fault lines laid bare by covid have made the public and the mainstream discourse are more attentive towards the state of health care. States are taking up legislation to recognise the right to health care.

#Health Laws #Health #Laws #RAJASTHAN #TAMILNADU
WIND FARMS
Lands, jobs and a new way of life

The numerous wind farms in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu have clearly changed the rhythms of life here. The benefits and drawbacks are inter-twined, and people have mixed feelings about them.

#Energy #Environment #TAMILNADU
ORANGE GROVES
Orange growers face an uncertain future

Buffeted by low prices, middlemen and uncertain rains, and lacking adequate state support, orange growers in Assam fear they will not be able to continue living off their lands much longer. 

#Horticulture #Livelihoods #Agriculture #ASSAM
SUICIDES
Why are so many housewives taking their lives?

Their high suicide rate is a substantial public health challenge. To address it, a scaffolding approach across domains is needed, as well as community involvement and awareness.

#Dowry #Gender Violence #Women
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
Anticipating the impacts of new laws

When a new law is proposed, it would be useful to anticipate the effects it is likely to have. Judicial Impact Assessments could help ensure that we do not exacerbate pendency and delays.

#Justice System #Laws
CONTENT SELECTION
What drives media reporting?
CONTENT SELECTION : What drives media reporting?

Do reader preferences influence how the media selects what to report on? A study of media coverage of land conflicts, the Covid-19 crisis and the Farm Bills provides some answers.

#Land #The Press #Agriculture #Media
CROP PRODUCTION
Reviving millet cultivation and consumption

The emphasis on rice and wheat production for decades has steadily reduced the importance of millets. once a staple for many Indians, especially adivasis. Some states, like Odisha, are trying to change this. 

#Food Security #Agriculture #ODISHA
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
An experiment in integrated development

By simultaneously carrying out multiple development schemes in a village, can its all-round development be made sustainable? Uttam Gram, in Haryana's Donkhera village, provides answers.

#Livestock #Panchayats #Water #Agriculture #HARYANA
TIGER SANCTUARY
Are tigers back at the Buxa reserve?

A camera trap sighting of a tiger suggests that ecosystem restoration in Buxa reserve is working. With it comes fresh concerns about the relocation of forest villages.

#Wildlife #Environment #WEST BENGAL
CHANGEMAKERS
A fuller picture of ourselves

Game Changers is more than a collection of profiles. It is an opportunity to learn the past and the present of the country in a more complete way, and understand the role women have always played in it.

#Gender and Leadership #Books #Reviews #Women
VACCINATIONS
Assaulting dignity in the name of public health

Vaccination policies involving denials of public entitlements are not based on evidence-based science, public health practices or ethics. Instead, they callously disregard the dignity of people's lives

#Food Security #Health
PADDY PROCUREMENT
Farmers sell at low prices as MSP is elusive

Paddy farmers in Baksa sell their produce at low prices, finding the Minimum Support Price unreliable. The income from agriculture is inadequate, forcing them to look for daily wage work.

#Agriculture Policy #Agriculture #ASSAM
WITCH-HUNTING
Women targeted by superstition, crime

Odisha has the second highest number of reported cases of witch-hunting. Superstitious beliefs are made out to be the reason, but discrimination and revenge are often the real causes.

#Culture #Gender Violence #Human Rights #ODISHA
GENDER AND CLIMATE
The climate crisis is India's feminist moment

Women are disproportionately impacted by India's climate crisis, but effectively excluded from decision-making in response to it. Ambika Vishwanath speaks with Omair Ahmad.

#Climate #Interviews #Environment #Women
HERSTORIES
She Is, and must always be

Amidst the evident lack of women's presence in places of power, She Is brings together inspirational stories, the struggles and the persistent efforts of women to get there.

#Gender and Leadership #Books #Reviews #Women
AGARWOOD
From flavorful tea to perfume trees

Assam's tea growers, struggling under high production costs and low profit margins, have turned to growing agarwood, in the process helping to revive it from its endangered status.

#Biodiversity #Horticulture #Agriculture #ASSAM
WOMEN IN SCIENCE
Women choose STEM, then opt out
WOMEN IN SCIENCE : Women choose STEM, then opt out

Plenty of women choose to study science and technology, but only a modest number of them are in long careers in these fields, and very few are making it to leadership positions.

#Girls' Education #Science and Technology #Work+Life #Women
CAMEL HERDING
Pastoralists' path to livelihoods blocked

The subsistence economy of camel herders in Rajasthan has been hit hard by travel restrictions. Even after the withdrawal of these, demand for camel-derived products has not yet revived. 

#Livestock #Livelihoods #Economy #RAJASTHAN
URBAN MOBILITY
Shaping our streets for people

Plenty of money has been spent widening roads. It is clear that doesn't work. Instead, designing our cities for walking and cycling is a much better option, and is also imperative to fight climate change.

#Cities #Climate #Transport #Government #MAHARASHTRA
NO WOMAN'S LAND
All work and no land for women
NO WOMAN'S LAND : All work and no land for women

Most rural women work on farms, but only one in six owns the land she works on. Reforms to succession laws have helped bring parity for women in family property rights, but not for agricultural lands. 

#Agriculture #Women
DRIVERS OF GROWTH
India’s new growth recipe: Larger firms

Large Indian firms are yet to become global champions. India should focus on improving their competitiveness so that they can tap into large external markets far more than they have managed so far.

#Trade #Economy #Government
A PACHYDERM'S DIET
Elephants need to eat a lot, but are selective

A study in northern West Bengal found elephants are selective with their diet, feeding on less than half the species of plants around them. This is contradictory to the prevalent view that elephants are generalist feeders. Nabarun Guha reports.

#Forests #Wildlife #Environment #WEST BENGAL
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
SC opens the door to autonomy in abortions

The apex court recognised that narrow patriarchal principles and assumptions about permissible sex are limiting the legal options available to pregnant persons, and lead them to unsafe alternatives. 

#Gender Violence #Health Laws #Women's Health #Women
INDIAN GIANT SQUIRREL
IGS numbers decline as forests become less dense

The Indian Giant Squirrel is an indicator species. Its declining numbers tell us that conservation needs a holistic approach where the focus is as much on the habitat as on the animals themselves. 

#Forests #Wildlife #Environment
FINANCE REGULATION
How well are securities laws enforced in India?

An analysis of over 8,000 enforcement orders passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India over a span of ten years provides insight into the use of its powers by the institution, and its priorities. 

#Economy #Government
RENEWABLES AND JOBS
Can DRE projects stem the tide of migration?

The renewable energy sector is steadily adding jobs, and this trend is likely to continue, say researchers. But women's participation in this workforce is low, and financing difficulties need to be overcome.

#Energy #Livelihoods #Economy
SUNDARBANS MANGROVES
Satellite images reveal impact of frequent cyclones

Scientists examining satellite images find that cyclone-induced damage slows the recovery of mangroves and changes the forest composition in comparison to other regions that didn't witness many cyclones. 

#Climate #Forests #Environment #WEST BENGAL
Podcasts from Takshashila Institution.
  • Water crisis, gender and education
  • Women in politics – some thoughts
  • Tech alliances in the Indo-Pacific
  • China’s national computing network
  • China and India’s approach to human trafficking
X
X
India Together has partnered with The Takshashila Institution to bring our readers all episodes of the policy chat podcast series, All Things Policy. The podcasts are tagged based on the taxonomy IT uses to archive its own content, so readers can find the various episodes in the respective Section and Topic pages.
INEQUALITY
The need to spatialise human rights in cities

Informal settlements, despite containing a majority of the people, are treated as aberrations. Forced to live outside legal sanction, the poor are condemned to a degraded quality of life.

#Cities #Urban Poor #Government #Human Rights
TRADITIONAL FOODS
Re-seeding the past for a better future

Tribal communities in Similipal are being encouraged to conserve seeds and water, use bio-inputs and inter-crop millets with other crops. Farmers are optimistic that this can bring them food security and better livelihoods. 

#Adivasis #Land #Organic #Agriculture #ODISHA
YIELDS AND LIVELIHOODS
Has precision farming's moment arrived
YIELDS AND LIVELIHOODS : Has precision farming's moment arrived

India needs to grow a lot more food, and do it sustainably to be able to meet its future food security and also keep its climate commitments. Precision farming is still nascent in the country, but could offer a way forward.

#Land #Organic #Agriculture
TAX TRIBUNAL
GSTAT: An urgent necessity and opportunity

The GST Appellate Tribunal is already much-delayed, and the apex court has directed the government to set it up swiftly. It presents a greenfield opportunity to build a completely online dispute resolution system.

#Trade #Economy #Laws
AFFORESTATION
Missing the forest for the CAMPA trees

Global commitments and domestsic laws are driving afforestation. But conservationists argue that large scale tree plantations can do more harm than good if we overlook the nuances, and that all that is green is not forest. 

#Climate #Forests #Environment
WELFARE STATE
RJ, TN move towards universal health care

The fault lines laid bare by covid have made the public and the mainstream discourse are more attentive towards the state of health care. States are taking up legislation to recognise the right to health care.

#Health Laws #Health #Laws #RAJASTHAN #TAMILNADU
WIND FARMS
Lands, jobs and a new way of life

The numerous wind farms in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu have clearly changed the rhythms of life here. The benefits and drawbacks are inter-twined, and people have mixed feelings about them.

#Energy #Environment #TAMILNADU
ORANGE GROVES
Orange growers face an uncertain future

Buffeted by low prices, middlemen and uncertain rains, and lacking adequate state support, orange growers in Assam fear they will not be able to continue living off their lands much longer. 

#Horticulture #Livelihoods #Agriculture #ASSAM
SUICIDES
Why are so many housewives taking their lives?

Their high suicide rate is a substantial public health challenge. To address it, a scaffolding approach across domains is needed, as well as community involvement and awareness.

#Dowry #Gender Violence #Women
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
Anticipating the impacts of new laws

When a new law is proposed, it would be useful to anticipate the effects it is likely to have. Judicial Impact Assessments could help ensure that we do not exacerbate pendency and delays.

#Justice System #Laws
CONTENT SELECTION
What drives media reporting?
CONTENT SELECTION : What drives media reporting?

Do reader preferences influence how the media selects what to report on? A study of media coverage of land conflicts, the Covid-19 crisis and the Farm Bills provides some answers.

#Land #The Press #Agriculture #Media
CROP PRODUCTION
Reviving millet cultivation and consumption

The emphasis on rice and wheat production for decades has steadily reduced the importance of millets. once a staple for many Indians, especially adivasis. Some states, like Odisha, are trying to change this. 

#Food Security #Agriculture #ODISHA
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
An experiment in integrated development

By simultaneously carrying out multiple development schemes in a village, can its all-round development be made sustainable? Uttam Gram, in Haryana's Donkhera village, provides answers.

#Livestock #Panchayats #Water #Agriculture #HARYANA
TIGER SANCTUARY
Are tigers back at the Buxa reserve?

A camera trap sighting of a tiger suggests that ecosystem restoration in Buxa reserve is working. With it comes fresh concerns about the relocation of forest villages.

#Wildlife #Environment #WEST BENGAL
CHANGEMAKERS
A fuller picture of ourselves

Game Changers is more than a collection of profiles. It is an opportunity to learn the past and the present of the country in a more complete way, and understand the role women have always played in it.

#Gender and Leadership #Books #Reviews #Women
VACCINATIONS
Assaulting dignity in the name of public health

Vaccination policies involving denials of public entitlements are not based on evidence-based science, public health practices or ethics. Instead, they callously disregard the dignity of people's lives

#Food Security #Health
PADDY PROCUREMENT
Farmers sell at low prices as MSP is elusive

Paddy farmers in Baksa sell their produce at low prices, finding the Minimum Support Price unreliable. The income from agriculture is inadequate, forcing them to look for daily wage work.

#Agriculture Policy #Agriculture #ASSAM
WITCH-HUNTING
Women targeted by superstition, crime

Odisha has the second highest number of reported cases of witch-hunting. Superstitious beliefs are made out to be the reason, but discrimination and revenge are often the real causes.

#Culture #Gender Violence #Human Rights #ODISHA
GENDER AND CLIMATE
The climate crisis is India's feminist moment

Women are disproportionately impacted by India's climate crisis, but effectively excluded from decision-making in response to it. Ambika Vishwanath speaks with Omair Ahmad.

#Climate #Interviews #Environment #Women
HERSTORIES
She Is, and must always be

Amidst the evident lack of women's presence in places of power, She Is brings together inspirational stories, the struggles and the persistent efforts of women to get there.

#Gender and Leadership #Books #Reviews #Women
AGARWOOD
From flavorful tea to perfume trees

Assam's tea growers, struggling under high production costs and low profit margins, have turned to growing agarwood, in the process helping to revive it from its endangered status.

#Biodiversity #Horticulture #Agriculture #ASSAM
WOMEN IN SCIENCE
Women choose STEM, then opt out
WOMEN IN SCIENCE : Women choose STEM, then opt out

Plenty of women choose to study science and technology, but only a modest number of them are in long careers in these fields, and very few are making it to leadership positions.

#Girls' Education #Science and Technology #Work+Life #Women
CAMEL HERDING
Pastoralists' path to livelihoods blocked

The subsistence economy of camel herders in Rajasthan has been hit hard by travel restrictions. Even after the withdrawal of these, demand for camel-derived products has not yet revived. 

#Livestock #Livelihoods #Economy #RAJASTHAN
URBAN MOBILITY
Shaping our streets for people

Plenty of money has been spent widening roads. It is clear that doesn't work. Instead, designing our cities for walking and cycling is a much better option, and is also imperative to fight climate change.

#Cities #Climate #Transport #Government #MAHARASHTRA
NO WOMAN'S LAND
All work and no land for women
NO WOMAN'S LAND : All work and no land for women

Most rural women work on farms, but only one in six owns the land she works on. Reforms to succession laws have helped bring parity for women in family property rights, but not for agricultural lands. 

#Agriculture #Women

Podcasts from Takshashila Institution.
  • Water crisis, gender and education
  • Women in politics – some thoughts
  • Tech alliances in the Indo-Pacific
  • China’s national computing network
  • China and India’s approach to human trafficking
X
X
India Together has partnered with The Takshashila Institution to bring our readers all episodes of the policy chat podcast series, All Things Policy. The podcasts are tagged based on the taxonomy IT uses to archive its own content, so readers can find the various episodes in the respective Section and Topic pages.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
in each section ...
ENVIRONMENT GOVERNMENT HEALTH HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS MEDIA OP-ED POVERTY RELIEF REVIEWS RIGHT TO INFO SOCIETY WOMEN AGRICULTURE CHILDREN ECONOMY EDUCATION