-The Indian Express Adopt more stringent fuel quality and emission standards — and push for the national automobile pollution and fuel authority Approximately 20 years ago, in 1995, a process was started that held great promise for ameliorating the serious air pollution problem in Delhi. Under a provision of the Indian Constitution, environmental lawyer M.C. Mehta filed a public interest litigation with the Supreme Court, seeking relief from the serious health risks...

-IPS News NEW DELHI: Vinita Panikker, 26, considers herself “the world’s most unfortunate woman”. Three years ago, a jealous husband, who suspected her of having an affair with her boss at a software company, poured a whole bottle of hydrochloric acid on her face while she was asleep. The fiery liquid seared her flesh, blighting her face almost entirely while blinding her in one eye. What remains today of a once pretty visage...

-The Indian Express During the election campaign, the BJP had promised a 50 per cent profit margin on minimum support prices to farmers. But over the past year, the optimism of farmers has turned to despair. Since the parliamentary elections, basmati paddy prices have fallen by 35 per cent and cotton by 25 per cent. The era of cooperative federalism notwithstanding, the Centre practically decreed that states not announce a crop...

-The Hindu If the ‘pro-poor’ Delhi government dismantles its only Bus Rapid Transit corridor, it will only make life more difficult for the least affluent class. The new government in Delhi is reportedly planning to dismantle the 5.8- kilometre-long pilot Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor and replace it with a six-lane road instead. Those who have followed the saga of the BRT experiment in Delhi will not be surprised by the decision...

-The Hindu Business Line   Land holders deserve a just, dignified deal. The 2013 came close to that; now, we are turning the clock back It isn't really surprising that the public debate over the land acquisition law has been reduced to a simplistic narrative of whether farmers have become the stumbling blocks to India's growth story by refusing to part with their land. In the past, debates over big dams and nuclear...