Policy UpdateSaachi Saxena Background Environmental policy is moving beyond regulating factories and emissions towards influencing what consumers buy and what firms produce. The Ecomark Rules, 2024, represent this shift in India by attempting to use product information and certification as…
The Mahakali Treaty of 1996, formally the “Treaty between His Majesty's Government of Nepal and the Government of India Concerning the Integrated Development of the Mahakali River including Sarada Barrage, Tanakpur Barrage and Pancheshwar Project”, was signed in New Delhi on 12 February 1996 and entered into force on 5 June 1997. It runs for 75 years, with a review mandated every ten years or earlier if either side requests it. The treaty also established a joint Mahakali River Commission to oversee implementation and resolve disputes (Government of India [GoI] and Government of Nepal [GoN], 1996).
Rajasthan, with geographical area of 3,42,239 sq km as largest state and 7.9 crore population as seventh most populous, is characterised by sixty percent Thar desert, scattered habitations, low population density in western districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, tribal concentration in southern districts of Udaipur, Banswara, Dungarpur and Pratapgarh, and high incidence of drought and groundwater stress. These structural features make effective welfare delivery central to state development strategy.
The global labour market has undergone a fundamental transformation since the 2008 global financial crisis. Traditional employment relationships have increasingly given way to flexible platform-mediated forms of work collectively referred to as the gig economy. In India, this transition has been driven by rapid urbanisation, widespread smartphone adoption and the expansion of the digital economy. Gig work refers to income-generating activities performed outside conventional employer-employee relationships. It includes platform-based work facilitated through digital applications such as Swiggy, Zomato and Uber as well as non-platform gig work, including casual wage labour and freelance services.
Mahtari Vandan Yojana is a women-centred social-protection scheme of the Chhattisgarh government. Launched on 1 March 2024, it provides monthly financial assistance of ₹1,000 to eligible women through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The official scheme portal states that the programme seeks to promote women’s economic self-reliance, improve health and nutrition, reduce gender-based inequality and strengthen women’s decisive role within the family.
Small hydropower is among the oldest and most geographically democratic forms of renewable energy in India, capable of delivering firm, round-the-clock power to hilly and remote regions where the terrain makes solar parks and large transmission corridors difficult to build.
Policy UpdateSneha Kohli Background The Khelo India- National Programme for Development of Sports- was launched in 2016-17 and emerged as a unified national framework following the restructuring of earlier sports-development initiatives. The Khelo India programme has been introduced to revive…