-The Times of India When Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi asked students of Bengaluru's Mount Carmel if the Modi government's Swachh Bharat Mission was working, he got a mixed response. An analysis of the campaign, well over a year now, shows the progress report is mixed too. Last year, on October 2, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission, promising to provide toilets to Indian households that still...

-Frontline India’s forest cover has been steadily growing in recent years, with a steep rise in the extent of very dense forests, but the loss of over 20,000 sq km of moderately dense forests is a cause for concern. India’s forest cover has increased by 5,871 square kilometres from the government’s 2011 assessment to 6,97,898 sq km or 69.79 million hectares, according to the Indian State of Forest Report 2013 released...

-The Economic Times Where does a 12 per cent decline translate as 100 per cent increase? In the bizarre world of India's food math. Production of pulses slipped down by 12 per cent in 2014-15 compared to the previous year. As a result, prices of this essential item have Zoomed up by more than 100 per cent across the country. The government is scrambling to retrieve the situation, especially because an...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's apex pollution control agency is about to take on the role of "Big Brother" for industries, acquiring the capability for 24-hour surveillance of select factories through a network of sensors, communication channels and cameras. The Union environment and forests ministry has launched a nationwide pollution tracking system that will allow the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to continuously monitor the gas and liquid effluents discharged by select...

-Economic and Political Weekly   The stage is all set for the resumption of iron ore mining in Goa after it was suspended in the state in 2012, to curb its indiscriminate and illegal mining. The Goa government's decision to renew the mining leases comes at a time when the economics of iron ore mining have changed and environmental concerns have gained more prominence. Pamela D'Mello (dmello.pamela@gmail.com) is a Goa-based journalist. The state government...