-TheWire.in * As of last year, financial institutions from India were the third-largest investors out of six countries financing 80% of the world’s coal investments. * A 2021 report found that ICICI, the State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Trust Group and HDFC were among the fourth-biggest group of financiers of coal-based projects worldwide. * Indian commercial banks’ large-scale investment in Big Infra has exposed the Indian people’s savings and personal investments to...

-The Telegraph Jail and racetrack on beach bully list New Delhi: An audit has identified dozens of public and private projects that have breached India’s coastal regulations — beach resorts, ports, roads, a racetrack, and even a jail near an Olive Ridley turtle nesting site. The exercise by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has flagged deficiencies in the Union environment ministry’s project approval mechanisms and lapses by state coastal regulatory authorities that...

-IndiaSpend.com The United Nations projects that India's total population will surpass China's much sooner than expected, but even so, data show that India's population is actually declining, says Poonam Muttreja of the Population Foundation of India Mumbai: "What could women do if they wanted fewer children? They were opting for, amongst other things, abortion," says Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India. "Abortion rates as a proxy for contraception...

-Hindustan Times According to the revised norms, coal mines with environmental clearances to expand by 40%, can now expand by up to 50% without any environment impact assessment or public consultation The Union environment ministry has relaxed the mandatory compliance norms for coal mining expansion projects citing higher demand for coal amid an ongoing power crisis -- a move that has been criticised by environmentalists, especially since the coal ministry has said...

-Hindustan Times It is the unfolding crisis in Pakistan and Sri Lanka which is forcing countries like Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh to think again on Chinese infrastructure loans and being part of the BRI initiative. During his trip to India last week, Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba informally shared a conversation about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to Kathmandu in late March. The Nepalese PM, who has an equally political...