-PTI Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says all cities should be mandated to implement clean air action plan in a time-bound manner to meet clean air standards New Delhi: A green body on Tuesday called for the implementation of an emergency plan to address air pollution, after a Lancet Journal report said it was the second leading risk factor for health loss in India last year. Expressing shock at the loss of...

-The Hindu Studies on the Swachh Bharat Mission don’t confirm the government’s claims On October 2, 2017, the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) completed its third year. Over Rs. 60,000 crore has been spent on the programme, but despite its scope and importance, there is very little objective evidence about its performance So far the numbers that have been widely cited by the government are from its own administrative data and the Swachh Survekshan...

-The Hindu If we oppose every solution to the problem of air pollution, how will we ever breathe clean air, asks the environmentalist Environmentalist Sunita Narain has been fighting for clean air for decades. The Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, with which she has been associated and now serves as director general, led the shift to compressed natural gas in Delhi, to reduce air pollution. Ms. Narain is on the statutory...

-The Hindu On the need for action-oriented research in development policy A whole new way of looking at poverty and development policy is taking shape in the world of economics. Traditionally understood as meagreness of material resources, there is a growing realisation that poverty also depletes mental resources. Understanding of how poverty impacts behaviour, what the absence of resources does to a person’s mindset can vitaminise the poverty-fighting policy toolkit. Insights, well-designed qualitative...

-Factly.in Factly had earlier reported that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is not willing to accept RTI applications filed through the RTI Online portal. Data made available by DoPT to a RTI applicant reveals that 1951 RTI applications, addressed to the ECI were filed through the RTI Online portal as of 30th September 2017. And expectedly, not a single one of them has been responded to by the ECI. Documents reveal...