-Livemint.com An effective mass transit system for India’s large urban agglomerations can flourish only with adequate financing of buses, metros, and suburban rail Among the several services that haven’t been able to keep up with the exponential growth of Indian cities is public transportation. As transit is integral to living in cities, residents have resorted to purchasing private vehicles to get around, adding to an already-severe congestion crisis in our cities. The solution...

-IANS The move to not extend non-captive mining lease will impact 334 mines belonging to cos like Tata & Vedanta. NEW DELHI: In a setback for the mining industry, the government is set to reject a proposal to extend non-captive mining leases of companies that are expiring after completing 50-year period in March, 2020. The move will impact about 334 mines belonging to companies such as Tata Steel, Vedanta Limited, Essel Mining, V.M....

-Newsclick.in The Modi Government’s sudden modification of the terms of reference via a presidential order on July 29 is an attempt to squeeze the revenue share of states, say Opposition leaders. New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government’s decision to change the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission through a Presidential Order is aimed at further squeezing the revenue share of states, without even consulting them, various finance ministers of non-BJP...

-The Hindu Former PM Manmohan Singh says change undermines federal polity New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday remarked that the Centre ought to have consulted the State governments before introducing additional terms of reference for the 15th Finance Commission seeking to create separate funds for Defence and Internal Security. Asserting that unilateralism was not good for a federal polity and cooperative federalism, Mr. Singh said the best course would have...

-The Hindu United Nations-led Conference to Combat Desertification assures ‘neutrality’ by 2030. New Delhi: A two-week long United Nations-led Conference to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) ended with a commitment to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030. Such neutrality is defined by the U.N. as ensuring that enough land is available across the world to ensure a sustainable future. The Delhi Declaration, a consensus document, agreed upon by more than 100 countries “welcomed” the proposed...