-Newsclick.in The government in India continues to kow-tow to corporate lobbies at the cost of the environment and public health including occupational health. While always an integral part of ruling class Politics in India, as witnessed in the seemingly never-ending saga of the Bhopal Gas Disaster, this has reached new heights under the BJP government led by PM Narendra Modi which is rapidly dismantling even the already weak environmental regulatory structure....

-The Hindu Aim of the exercise is to map damage due to closure of 17,000 govt. schools. Eight months after the BJP government closed down 17,000 government schools in Rajasthan, dramatically pushing up the dropout rate largely among marginal communities, the Congress has decided to undertake a survey, starting in Jaipur's Amber block, to map the damage. Once the audit is over, a campaign to force the State government to reopen the closed...

-LiveMint.com Panel suggests floor price for foodgrain at a 10% premium to costs; safety net to kick in if prices fall below MSP New Delhi: In what could restore the terms of trade in favour of agriculture, a government panel has recommended a new cost-linked minimum support price (MSP) and a safety net for farmers. The recommended MSP, or the floor price for foodgrain, will be at a 10% premium to costs,...

-Livemint.com Model will allow India next year to contribute for the first time to annual report of global climate change panel New Delhi: India has a new and improved climate prediction model, which will help make more accurate long-range forecasts of the erratic monsoon and allow scientists to better study the impact of climate change on the monsoon. The model, developed by researchers at the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM),...

-Livemint.com A national task force on agriculture will recommend ways to reinvigorate agriculture, strategies for reforms New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has formed a task force to suggest ways to boost agriculture, demonstrating its commitment to farmers in a year when rural incomes have been hit by freak weather and a slump in the prices of key crops. The task force, under the aegis of NITI Aayog, the successor...