-The Hindu With the era of cheap, bountiful water having been replaced by increasing supply-and-quality constraints, many international investors are beginning to view water as the new oil There is a popular, tongue-in-cheek saying in America - attributed to the writer Mark Twain, who lived through the early phase of the California Water Wars - that "whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over." It highlights the consequences, even if...

-The United Nations With new cancer cases worldwide expected to rise from 14 million to 22 million per year within the next two decades, and annual cancer deaths rising from 8.2 million to 13 million, the United Nations today called for multipronged preventive action including treaties and laws extending tobacco-style restrictions to alcohol and sweetened beverages. "More commitment to prevention and early detection is desperately needed in order to complement improved treatments...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Backed by villagers and displaced people from different states, members of 200 NGOs from across the country on Monday slammed environment and forests minister M Veerappa Moily for ignoring environment and social concerns while granting speedy clearances to mining and infrastructure projects. Alleging that recent clearances pointed to "high corruption", the groups wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. They also demanded immediate rollback of the...

-Live Mint India needs to move away from wild swings in making environment policies The Western Ghats, spread over six states in western and southern India, cover an area of approximately 165,000 sq. km. They are home to a unique ecosystem in the country that is under threat from human activities. Nearly 59% of this area has been exploited: habitation, plantation or agriculture. Only 41% of the area is a natural...

-The Hindu ‘Organisations did not prepare us for the possibility of work-related harassment' Almost two-thirds of women journalists have experienced intimidation, threats or abuse including sexual harassment in relation to their work, according to the findings of the first global survey on violence and threats against women working in the news media. The findings of the survey come at a time when the editor of a weekly news magazine has been arrested and...