-Outlook India According to the Hisar-based Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC), the area in which stubble was burnt in 2016 was more than what it was in the previous two years and the same as 2013 Chandigarh: Stubble in over two lakh hectares of land was burnt last year in Haryana despite the state government cracking the whip on farmers who defied orders restricting the practice. Crop-residue burning had led to air pollution...

-The Indian Express De-listing of 255 parties by the EC has thrown up data on distribution of India’s minor political outfits and the nature of political entrepreneurship in the country. On December 23, The Indian Express began reporting a multi-part series on 255 political parties that had been de-listed by the Election Commission after it found that none of these had put up a candidate for any Vidhan Sabha or Lok...

-The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement demonetising high denomination notes on November 8, 2016, will do little to address the prime objective of flushing out black money but will adversely affect the economy in the short term, especially the informal sector, which is predominant in India, says M. Govinda Rao, a Member of the Fourteenth Finance Commission and Emeritus Professor, National Institute of Public...

-Livemint.com Supreme Court directed the Centre to suspend the licenses of firecracker manufacturers and sellers and not hand out fresh licenses till further orders New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday banned the manufacture and sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) to stem air pollution in Delhi and neighbouring towns. A three-judge bench headed by T.S Thakur, Chief Justice of India, directed the Centre to suspend the licenses of firecracker...

-Economic and Political Weekly Documents seized by the Income Tax Department in private corporations imply pay-offs were made to the PM and leading politicians. At 8 pm on 8 November 2016, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to a live broadcast on Doordarshan to make the historic announcement that the government was demonetising notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, emphasising his commitment to ridding India of the “evils of corruption” and...