Today, goats ensure income to five million households in India. But goat rearers face an opportunity and a threat as the demand for goat meat is set to shoot up, while grazing land is shrinking. If India does not secure its pastures, goats might turn from an asset to a liability, reports Down To Earth.
Trading in energy-efficiency certificates faces major hurdles. It is increasingly becoming evident that the world may not be ready for a binding international climate treaty at the ongoing climate summit in Cancun, Mexico. Global attention is now shifting towards domestic policies in the major economies.
The death of a tiger last month, two and a half years after it was brought to Sariska, proves the National Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan is not safe for the big cat. The death also brought to light little action has been taken on the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force, set up in 2005 to look at tiger conservation in the country. That was the year when Sariska lost all its tigers.
The struggle to protect the rapidly vanishing tiger is getting murkier by the day. Up to 100,000 families are slated for displacement, ostensibly to secure India’s tiger habitats. Unfortunately, most of the relocation taking place violates the law and may end up creating more conflicts that cause the tiger’s decline.
There is no doubt US President Barack Obama was in India on a business trip. His recent electoral losses weighed heavily with him when he stitched up deals, reportedly worth US $10 billion,that would create about 50,000 jobs back home. In this editorial Sunita Narain looks at the ABCDE of what is at stake in the US-India trade relationship.
Unique features of MNREGA, the public wage programme turn it into a magnet for women. More women than men work under the national programme that guarantees employment to rural people. Increasing women’s participation in MGNREGA can be used for local ecological revival, according to Richard Mohapatra
Market for water purifiers is booming, but no regulations check quality and claims. Down To Earth expresses concern and questions claims of the water purifier industry in this latest special report.
A Down to Earth report on ONGC’s oilfields ruining farms in Mehsana district, Gujarat. This district is the most prized onshore oil asset in India for the state-run ONGC, producing about 40,000 barrels crude oil a day. But for farmers the wells spell ruin.
This cover story in Down To Earth online charts the growth trajectory of India’s microfinance institutions and consists of a special report on the microfinance institutions in Andhra Pradesh who grew rich by lending insured loans to the rural poor.
