-Down to Earth As allegedly fake pesticides prove ineffective in controlling pests, farmers resort to indiscriminate spraying After a series of farmer suicides in Odisha’s Bargarh district over pest attack, the state government finally acknowledged that there are nearly 200,000 hectares of area, on which paddy is grown, has been damaged across nine districts. According to farmers, spurious pesticides were in use which proved ineffective to control Brown Plant Hopper, which first...

-Hindustan Times Delhi air pollution hit severe levels on Tuesday, prompting officials to shut down junior sections in schools and recommend a four-fold hike in parking fees as well as a cut in Metro fares. New Delhi gasped for oxygen on Tuesday as a toxic haze reduced visibility, affected flights and trains, and prompted chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to describe the national capital as a “gas chamber”. (Highlights) Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia...

-The Telegraph Calcutta: A recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme has suggested that the Paris Agreement would fail to restrict the global temperature rise within 2°C, as agreed at the Paris climate summit of 2015. It says that even if all the countries fully meet their commitments to cut emissions as expressed in their respective "nationally determined contributions"' (NDCs) in Paris, it would address "approximately one-third of the emissions reductions"...

-Hindustan Times Medical Journal Lancet released a report highlighting the impact of climate change on people. The report focuses on the need for climate policies that also curb air pollution. New Delhi: Indoor air pollution was linked to over 1.24 lakh deaths across India in 2015, a report published in Lancet – a noted medical journal – has stated. This count was higher than deaths caused by pollution emanating from coal power...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed all the states and Union territories to set up special centres to record the statements of blind, deaf or mute witnesses so that people accused of crimes cannot get away citing improper examination of such witnesses. The bench of Justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit passed the recent order while reversing the acquittal of a Maharashtra resident who had raped a 14-year-old deaf...