-The Hindu     This was an eco-sensitive zone, involving massive infrastructure, they say Ahmedabad: Around 50 environmentalists from across the country have written to the Union Environment Ministry that Chief Minister Narendra Modi's pet project, Statue of Unity, envisaging a 182- metre statue of Sardar Patel inside Narmada river, 3.2 km downstream of Sardar Sarovar Dam and Shoolpaneshar Sanctuary, was working without environment approval. This was an eco-sensitive zone, involving massive infrastructure. Work had...

-The Hindustan Times Greater Noida: An RTI activist was abducted from Dankaur town in Gautam Budh Nagar district on December 13, burnt with cigarette butts on his private parts and beaten with iron rods before being dumped near a petrol pump in a neighbouring district four days later. A medical report of the Dankaur government hospital notes Anoop Singh, 29, has 40 burn injuries all over his body, including on his face,...

-The Indian Express Food inflation owes largely to agricultural markets being regulated by outdated laws. The RBI governor, Raghuram Rajan, has a difficult task this week. He has to decide whether to keep interest rates constant or raise them - bearing in mind the possible taper of the US Fed's bond buying programme, a decline in industrial production and a rise in inflation. The sharp increase in consumer price-based inflation, to more...

-Outlook Baripada (Odisha): Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today launched a scheme for providing financial assistance to women self-help-groups (SHG) here. One lakh SHGs have been identified to be covered under the scheme in Odisha of which Mayurbhanj district accounted for 8000. Each SHG would be provided a financial assistance of Rs 10,000 with an expenditure Rs 100 crore from the exchequer, the Chief Minister said. Stating that SHGs comprising SC, ST, BPL...

-The Hindu Shimla: The people of Sutlej valley have rejected the draft study report on the cumulative environment impact on the river basin presented by the Indian Council for Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, on behalf of the Himachal Pradesh government. Local representatives and environmentalists said over the weekend that a month's notice should have been given for the public consultation after sharing the executive summary of the environment impact assessment (EIA)...