Among the most climate-vulnerable groups or weaker sections of society, persons with disabilities (PwDs) have been facing extreme challenges due to climate change and disasters than others.
Just within a few weeks since the Covid-19 virus started spreading from Wuhan, China, in December 2019, it was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), consequently affecting lives in 204 countries in varying degrees – some low, others moderate while about a dozen countries seriously affected. Within a span of two weeks, the total positive cases gl
It can be argued that whims rather than institutions govern Odisha's water resources development and management. The party's election manifesto (2014) ruling the state presently promised to add 10.00 lakh hectares (ha.) of land for irrigation coverage in the next five years. This is the only document referred to as a 'perspective plan in the water sector'. But even after a year of being re-elected, a five-year blueprint on water resources has yet to materialize.
Early this month, the resolution of the Union Cabinet to constitute a special purpose vehicle- Polavaram Project Authority (PPA)- caught the Odisha government napping. Instead, the news has attracted cautious criticism from the state government. With General election in full swing and Telengana Statehood is commencing- it is beyond obvious that political parties, , leader of oppositions including incumbent State and Union governments would left no stone unturned to gain political mileage of blame game. It is less important to read between the lines on the timing of PPA.
While the world is gradually moving towards a green economy, Orissa is seen to be embracing a brown economy. Depending on the likes of Vedanta, POSCO, batteries of sponge iron, and coal companies, which have demonstrated negligible social and environmental sensitivities, the state government intends to allocate exclusive water to such industries. On August 5, the state cabinet approved a proposal to create a 'water conservation fund' from the monetary contribution of industries which use the water from October to June.