Budget 2016 in cartoons

The lure of 10 million jobs a year

Employment in agriculture has increased. Will it lead to shed the belief that agriculture will not be able to employ further?

Is PM Modi really a ‘Champion of the Earth’?

Even as the United Nations has selected India's PM for this year's award to honour his role in protecting the environment, his regime's …

Interim Budget 2019: 'Gokul Mission funds have not been suitably utilised at all'

The scheme is just 'lip service' for the Modi government says official even as Piyush Goyal allocates Rs 750 crore to it

Why India's poor laugh at anti-corruption campaigns

Indian anti-corruption drives don't factor in the poor, the worst victims of the scourge

Rajya Sabha passes the Constitutional Amendment Bill on GST

The move paves way for a uniform tax regime in India

The unbearable burden of 2015

This is the second full budget of the NDA, coinciding with the second year of its governance

Environmentally conscious former PM Vajpayee no more

Two old timers recall the contributions that Vajpayee made to the field of environmental governance in India

Farmer producer organisations need their very own Amul

Instead of encouraging them on paper, the government has to create a few model FPOs in the country and provide institutional support to them

Centre rolls out Agriculture Land Leasing Act, 2016

NITI Aayog's Panagariya wishes to extend the Act to non-agricultural uses as well, which farmer leaders oppose

Central concerns

In a bid to give more fiscal autonomy to states, the Centre in the last budget gave them a higher share in Union tax receipts. Has this helped …

Report card: Environmental governance under NDA government

The government has stepped up action on environmental concerns such as pollution, but retains a myopic view of natural resource management and …

After Jairam Ramesh, now activists criticise green fund rules

They raise questions on the implementation of the rules and demand their withdrawal

‘Allocation for health services should be double of what it is’

Innovation in medicine and vaccine research a must now

'Relations between non-profits & govt are waning since liberalisation'

In the wake of arrests of 5 human rights activists by Maharashtra police, Down To Earth speaks to activists about what is bringing …

NDA v UPA? What about a democratic and progressive alliance for environment?

The NDA government has not dismantled the environmental governance structure. But it has also not taken measures to strengthen governance

How companies got their way on biodiversity

Amendments to the Biodiversity Act let companies off the hook on having to share the benefits of using biological resources

Namami Gange

Narendra Modi-led government’s flagship programme to restore purity and glory of India’s holiest river has made little progress on ground

India's National Action Plan on Climate Change needs desperate repair

India's National Action Plan on Climate Change has been slow to start and its sectoral missions are not aligned with the schemes the government …

Whose budget is it, Mr Jaitley?

Being the first full year budget of the National Democratic Alliance government, there was expectation that the finance minister's announcements …

Kerala tribals stand and protest for land

Demand the state government to fulfill its 2001 promise to give land to tribals

Union Budget 2018: Merely increasing funds for Clean Ganga will not ensure results

A CAG report had said underutilised funds and an absence of a long-term plan affecting rejuvenation of Ganga

NGO moves Supreme Court; seeks CBI probe into MGNREGA funds scam in Bihar

Report by Centre for Environment and Food Security says nearly Rs 6,000 crore meant to be paid to wage labourers siphoned off

Supreme Court questions viability of river linking project

Directs Centre to submit detailed report on project cost and land acquisition

Budget through the years post liberalisation