India’s ₹10,000 crore recycled PET (r-PET) plan has hit a policy delay, creating uncertainty that is slowing investments and industry growth. Without clear enforcement of the recycled content mandate, India’s circular economy and plastic waste reduction goals risk losing momentum. India’s effort to transform plastic waste into a ₹10,000 crore circular economy opportunity has run…
Transporters in Maharashtra have announced an indefinite strike from March 5 against the e-challan system, citing heavy digital traffic fines and financial stress. The protest may disrupt supply chains and board examinations across the state. Transporters across Maharashtra have warned of an indefinite statewide strike beginning March 5 over unresolved concerns related to the e-challan…
The Union Budget has placed employment and livelihoods at the centre of the government’s long-term vision under what it calls the “Viksit Bharat Guarantee”. The Budget promises to strengthen rural jobs, self-employment, and basic services so that economic growth translates into everyday security for ordinary households. Two major pillars of this promise are VB–G Ram–G…
Anyone who has worked in India’s development sector for a significant period will recognise a familiar pattern. Across states and districts, the landscape is crowded with organisations trying their best to solve difficult problems, yet most of them do so in isolation. The intent is strong, the commitment is real, but the way programmes are…
As India’s groundwater has transformed into both a blessing and a ticking time bomb, very few have paid attention to it with the same patience as Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni. For more than thirty years, the Pune-based hydrogeologist has transformed data into dialogue and science into service. His journey from looking closely through the fractured basalt…
India’s economic story has long treated agriculture and manufacturing as two separate worlds. One feeds the nation, the other powers growth. Yet, as India moves into 2026, the real opportunity lies in connecting these worlds. The emerging “farm to factory” model is not merely about processing crops; it is about redesigning livelihoods, retaining value in…
Jharkhand is famously referred to as a state of plenty, with forests, minerals, and a huge population of rural and tribal inhabitants. However, under this prosperity, there is a crude reality of deprivation that defines the day-to-day living in its villages. The latest report by the Azim Premji University, Rural Multidimensional Deprivation in Jharkhand (2025)…
Threads of cloth carry stories older than memory. Woven patterns echo across villages where hands shape identity through looms. Each piece links maker to user in quiet exchange. In homes far apart, daily life turns around spindles and shuttles. Patterns passed down become part of how people belong. Governments now look closely at these practices…
India’s Youth Unemployment Crisis: When Job Seekers Stop Looking for Jobs India’s labour market is going through a major crisis that is getting worse day after day. There are millions of young Indians who either can’t find appropriate work or have become so disappointed that they have stopped looking for work altogether. The change, from…
How mushroom cultivation in Gaya ji is quietly reshaping rural livelihoods in Bihar In the fields of Gaya ji, Bihar, the post-harvest season looks different. There is no hurry to clear fields by fire. No smoke curling into the winter sky. Instead, paddy straw is being stacked. Stored. Processed. Not as waste, but as an…
