-IANS Bhubaneswar: The status of "National Heritage Animal" to elephants has done little to save them, and at least 427 jumbos have perished in the last seven years in Odisha. Though the state claims it has taken steps to protect the animal, experts say industrialisation and urbanisation are the main reasons for elephant deaths. Elephants are continuously barging into human habitations, triggering a conflict. At least 23 people and 26 elephants have died...

-Business Standard The committee has suggested an umbrella law to help set up new national and state-level regulators that would also take the powers of the existing pollution control boards The T S R Subramanian committee, constituted about three months ago to review laws related to environment and forest protection, has recommended some big-ticket changes to the rules and legislation. These include a complete overhaul of certain laws, special fast-track dispensation...

-The Times of India Almora (Uttarakhand): Bilayat grass, also called trap grass, could be the thing to prevent landslides. The roots of this variety of grass grows into soil and rock, and binds matter so fast that land will not slide. A non-governmental organisation in Nainital, working in collaboration with the Bareilly-based Indian Veterinary Research Institute, has suggested that this grass could be grown in the hills of Uttarakhand to prevent...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The government could soon undertake extensive changes in its land use and acquisition policies as the PMO puts pressure on the agriculture ministry to implement the recommendations of an eight-year-old report that was prepared by a working group chaired by the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi. The report had proposed that industries and developers could make use of productive agricultural land for industrialisation and urbanisation by ensuring...

-The Indian Express Proposing a complete overhaul of the existing environmental governance framework, a government-appointed expert committee has recommended measures that would make it easier to set up industrial or infrastructure projects, but would also ensure that those who flout pollution norms or violate green laws are penalised heavily. Among the measures suggested by the four-member committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian are: creation of new institutions...