-The Hindu   Dr. Hillel has pioneered a method of bringing water to crops in arid land regions While leading nations of the world are engaged in conflicts over the entire range of physical resources, from rare earth minerals to oil, this week the U.S. recognised the importance of a resource that matters much more to the vast numbers of the poor the world over — water. It was recognition of the importance of...

A scientific and public scrutiny of the methodology used by the expert panel will only add to the efforts to save the Western Ghats. On May 23, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) posted the report of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) on its website honouring a landmark judgment of the Central Information Commission triggered by an activist seeking access to the material. In this judgment, the CIC...

-The Hindu In a bid to banish the spectre of open defecation within a decade, the government has increased its spending on toilets for rural areas, hiking the amount to be spent for a household latrine from the existing Rs.4,600 to Rs.10,000. On Thursday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the increased allocation for the Total Sanitation Campaign — now renamed the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) — from Rs.1,500 crore in...

-The Hindu   To provide water supply, drainage, solid waste management and street lighting  If a rural area boasts a high population — well above 5,000, sometimes as high as 20,000 — with most of its workforce in non-farm jobs, is it a village or a town? For almost 4,000 such areas, the definition is unclear: the census calls them towns, but since they have gram panchayats rather than municipal corporations, the government...

-PTI   Unsustainable growth, population, urbanisation & consumption increase impact region's environment Emissions in India and China is set to rise as the Asia-Pacific region faces mounting challenges in tackling climate change, water scarcity, species extinction and hazardous waste and their economies forge ahead, a UN report has warned. The region needs to improve governance structures and accountability and scale up successful policy initiatives to achieve sustainable development, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said...