On 9 June 2016, the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA), a scheme built on a deceptively simple premise: that if every pregnant woman in the country were examined by a qualified physician and appropriately investigated at least once during her second or third trimester, a measurable share of preventable maternal and neonatal deaths could be averted.
India stands at a critical juncture in addressing the climate crisis, where the imperatives of development, energy security, climate resilience and social justice increasingly intersect. While the country has undertaken several commitments towards mitigating greenhouse-gas emissions and transitioning towards a low-carbon economy, the impacts of climate change are already being experienced through extreme weather events, agricultural losses, disruptions to livelihoods and growing vulnerabilities among marginalised communities.
Climate disasters are risks closely linked to climatic conditions and climate change. These include extreme events such as heatwaves, floods, cyclones, and droughts, as well as other climate hazards. Although such events may have natural causes, the extent of their impact is strongly influenced by human exposure, vulnerability, environmental degradation, development patterns, and the capacity of institutions and communities to respond. The need to understand such climatic disasters has increased as extreme events increasingly affect livelihoods, infrastructure, public health, agriculture, ecosystems, and even economic activity.
The Ganga supports more than 400 million people. It gives them water to drink, land to farm, and a reason to pray. But it also carries the waste of cities, factories, and towns along its 2500 km stretch. That is the core problem. For many years, cleaning the Ganga has been a national priority. In 2014, the Namami Gange Mission was launched.
The Government of India approved the Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) scheme through the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in October 2017 and launched it on 19 January 2018. Implemented by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with loan assistance from the World Bank, SANKALP forms part of India's broader Skill India Mission, alongside flagship schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), and the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF). While these other schemes focus on direct skills training, apprenticeship engagement, or standardizing qualifications respectively, SANKALP was designed to address a different, structural gap: the absence of a strong institutional architecture connecting skill development efforts at the Central, State, and District levels, essentially the administrative backbone that other schemes rely on to function effectively at the ground level.
Orunodoi is Assam’s flagship women-centred social-protection programme. Launched on 2 October 2020, it provides regular financial assistance to economically vulnerable households, with the transfer made in the name of a woman. The scheme emerged from a practical concern: women often manage household spending on food, medicines and education but may lack an independent or predictable income. A monthly transfer to a woman’s account therefore seeks to combine poverty relief with greater financial visibility and participation in household decision-making.
The Ganga water dispute between India and Bangladesh is rooted in the river’s transboundary character and the competing dry-season water needs of both countries. The dispute intensified after India commissioned the Farakka Barrage in May 1975 to divert Ganga water into the Bhagirathi-Hooghly system, primarily to improve the navigability and functioning of Kolkata Port (Ministry of Jal Shakti, 2023). The diversion of lean-season flows became a major concern in Bangladesh, where downstream water availability has implications for irrigation, navigation, ecosystems, and water-dependent livelihoods.