-The Hindu The production of waste in India is growing at an exponential rate. However, the welfare and dignity of the informal workers involved in the stigmatised sector of waste management remains at the bottom of any government’s political agenda. Human society has always produced waste and always will. Waste materials — substances without value — are constantly generated in all production, all distribution and all consumption processes. The time waste spends...

-The Indian Express Delhi lost the window of opportunity to avoid an outbreak because of a governance deficit; first because the state was in election mode and then because of the AAP’s internal squabbles. The past few weeks have witnessed substantial media coverage on the dengue outbreak in Delhi. Heartrending stories of clearly avoidable deaths gave the crisis a human face. Focusing on Delhi, most sought to expose the lack of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre is examining a proposal to confine television ads for condoms to late-night hours. The I&B ministry has taken up the matter amid what officials claimed was a "flood of complaints" from sections of viewers, including politicians. "There is currently no restriction on condom advertisements. They can be shown at any time of the day and on any kind of channel, but this might change in the future...

-PTI Delhi has reported 504 cases of dengue in the last five days, taking the number of patients hit by the mosquito-borne viral disease to 6,486, the highest since 1996. Data released on Thursday by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which tracks the infection the symptoms of which include high fever and aching joints, shows 25 people died of dengue this season. Records of major hospitals, however, put the number of dead...

-The Statesman The toxicity of pesticides to humans, their ability to remain in the environment and accumulate in products require the establishment of strict scientifically substantiated regulations for their safe application. In India, the rules for using pesticides are worked out together by the Union ministries for agriculture and health. Every year, an approved “List of Chemical and Biological Means for Controlling Pests, Plant diseases and Weeds Allowed to be used...