-The Indian Express   Affected children are largely from around a litchi plantation in Malda West Bengal: In the last three days, nine babies aged three to five have died in Malda district after showing symptoms that suggested acute encephalitis syndrome. A seasonal disease for years in UP's Gorakhpur and Bihar's Muzaffarpur, AES appears to have broken out in West Bengal for the first time, alarming scientists who are wondering if the children...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: On World Environment Day, this could be worrying news for the new environment minister. A study by forest researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) has concluded that India could be grossly "over-reporting" its forest cover. The researchers say that the existing forest cover, in reality, may be what the Forest Survey of India had reported back in 1997. This is because, they say,...

-The Telegraph   A survey by the state labour department has shown that of 273 tea estates in north Bengal, 107 don't have hospitals. Of the hospitals in the 166 tea gardens, there is no nurse in 116 hospitals, and there are MBBS doctors only in 74. The state of health care in tea gardens has been highlighted in a report prepared by the joint labour commissioner's office in Siliguri. The survey was taken...

-The Business Standard     Institutions such as World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are considered the panacea of all ills that developing countries like India face. Although the amount of money these institutions lend is small, their influence on the economy is high. They continue to be the benchmark for social and environmental policies, good governance, climate change, corruption and so on. A look at some of the reports of these...

-The Hindustan Times India has driven the truck of development - loaded with tar, bricks, glass, concrete...the works - right through its most treasured and fragile green spaces in the last decade. While major cities like Delhi and Mumbai sacrificed green cover for real estate, the country's finest wildlife corridors have been ceded to indiscriminate industrialisation. In the absence of a clear policy to balance development and environment, the Aravallis in Gurgaon,...