-UN News The health of children, adolescents and expectant mothers worldwide is at risk from the illegal processing of old electrical or electronic devices, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, in a landmark new report on the toxic threat. In a statement coinciding with the launch, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the health threat was growing, in line with the “mounting ‘tsunami of e-Waste’”. "In the same way the...

-The Financial Express According to a study, by 2025, agricultural productivity is likely to fall by 68 percent in more than one-third of India's districts that are currently under water stress. The covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the country’s economy has been colossal. Nevertheless, Indian agriculture to date has resisted the onslaught. Though in the FY 2020-21, India’s GDP contracted by 7.7 percent, including negative growth in industry and services agriculture delivered a...

-The Hindu Manoj’s work is consistent with his belief that man connects with Mother Earth for survival Kochi: Manoj Kumar I.B. always walks barefoot in the forest. He has literally grown one, spread over one-and-a-half acres on which his modest house stands at Edavanakkad, not far from the city. He says it connects him with Mother Earth, which he firmly believes has a therapeutic effect in building immunity and keeping one healthy. That...

-Down to Earth Around 88% respondents want to switch to less-polluting alternatives but report they are not easily available Around 12.3 billion sanitary napkins, amounting to 113,000 tonnes of Waste, reached India’s landfills every year, according to a new study. Improper disposal and non-segregation from household Waste leads to unhygienic working condition for Waste workers, the report said. Commonly available sanitary napkins constitute 90 per cent plastic, the report claimed. India generates 3.3...

-The Hindu Official secrecy on pandemic policies aggravates a crisis In August 2020, the Modi government constituted the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) as a nodal agency on all matters related to vaccine administration and rollout. Asked under the Right to Information (RTI) Act for details of the NEGVAC’s meetings, the Health Ministry, which anchors the expert group, replied that it does not know where the concerned documents...