-TheWire.in The Narendra Modi government's push to have research institutions depend less on public funds has been turned into a bad idea by the government's own priorities. “Innovate, patent, produce, prosper.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered these words in his inaugural address at the 107th Indian Science Congress, now underway in Bengaluru. Modi’s prescription (first advanced in early 2018) describes a straightforward path to success but it also quietly assumes an Environment and...

-Press release by Centre for Science and Environment, dated 17 December, 2019 Levels of salt, fat in junk foods way higher than proposed thresholds, says new CSE lab study Points out that industry is opposing notification of draft regulation because then we will know how bad their food is Expert group made recommendations six years ago, but the draft regulation that has emerged is severely diluted -- even this much-diluted draft...

-The Hindu Agency tested salt, fat, trans-fat and carbohydrates in 33 popular ‘junk foods’ An array of packaged snacks and fast foods breach safe limits of salt and fat content, says a laboratory analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment. The agency tested salt, fat, trans-fat and carbohydrates in 33 popular “junk foods”, which consisted of 14 samples of chips, salted snacks, instant noodles and instant soup, and 19 samples of burgers,...

-Financial Express A study by ICRIER researchers Ashok Gulati and Pritha Banerjee shows how problematic the fertiliser policy is—for farmers, industry, the Environment and the government. India’s experience with fertilisers, in the later part of the Green Revolution, prompted it to adopt a policy of subsidising fertilisers. In 1977, the country had a total NPK (nitrogenous, phosphatic and potassic) fertiliser consumption of 4.3 million metric tonnes (mmt) and per hectare usage...

-The Hindu Report on congenital deformities in children born to women exposed to the 1984 gas leak is inconclusive, says committee. An expert committee explicitly barred the publication of the findings of a research study that said babies born to women — who as children were exposed to the 1984 gas leak in Bhopal — were significantly more likely to have “congenital malformations” than those born to women unexposed to the gas. The...