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As markets shift, ancient stone craft of Maharashtra's Patharvat artisans faces extinction

For generations, the seasonal Anjani River has been more than a waterway for the Patharvat community of Waghlud Khurd. It has been their classroom, their workplace, their temple, and their source of life. But today, the riverbed that once rang with the sound of hammers and chisels has fallen quiet. A centuries-old stone craft is dying—not because the river has changed, but because the world around it has, says a guest blog published in the website of the advocacy group SANDRP (South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People).
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Alang emerges as primary graveyard for sanctioned 'shadow fleet' tankers as legal pressure mounts

In a significant shift that appears to be reshaping the global maritime demolition landscape, oil tankers from the so-called "short fleet" — vessels operating under international sanctions — are reported to be increasingly making their final voyage to the shipbreaking yards of Alang-Sosiya in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district , industry data reveals.
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India's top 25 family business houses control up to a fifth of national GDP, World Bank study finds

  A new research has revealed that despite decades of liberalization, India's corporate dynasties have only tightened their grip on the economy—capturing 20% of GDP at their peak and expanding into nearly every industrial sector while quietly driving up prices.
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A rejoinder on ‘Naxal grass’ — but what about ‘Dimagi Naxals’?

Following my blog , in which I cited renowned mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik , who mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Dimagi Naxal” remark by stating that the word “Naxal” refers to a “special river reed that grows in North Bengal (kash grass) with silvery flowers”, and that “Naxali” would be the name of Lord Shiva’s son Kartikeya, who was “born amongst these reeds”, I received an interesting rejoinder.
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From Dimagi Naxal to Kartikeya: The curious journey of a political expression

Following the Prime Minister’s “Dimagi Naxal” remark, there appears to have been a huge backlash, especially from protagonists of the “Cockroach Janata Party.” The term is being variously interpreted as a move to “isolate” dissidents, following the claim of a successful campaign against Naxalite violence. Social media is full of “Dimagi Naxal Party” memes, making a joke of an expression used, perhaps for the first time in India.
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World Bank: India's human capital crisis isn't in schools—it's in homes, villages, and jobs

A new World Bank report , Building Human Capital Where It Matters , has revealed that India's human capital deficits are entrenched across homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces, with maternal education creating lifelong skill gaps, rural health quality varying by 46 percentage points between villages, and self-employed workers earning barely half the returns to experience of their salaried peers.
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World Bank: 70% of workers trapped in no-learning jobs as human capital stagnates globally

A new report released by the World Bank has delivered a sobering assessment of global human capital development , finding that progress has stalled or reversed across much of the developing world. The report, Building Human Capital Where It Matters , quantifies how deficits in nutrition, learning, and employment can erase 51% of future earnings in low- and middle-income countries , while exposing stark inequities rooted in the settings where people live, learn, and work.
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