-IANS Kolkata: Climate change is causing toxic metals trapped in the sediment beds of the Hooghly estuary in the Indian Sunderbans to leach out into the water system due to changes in ocean chemistry, say scientists, warning of potential human health hazards. They predict that after about 30 years, increasing ocean acidification - another dark side of spiked atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide - could in fact unlock the entire stock of...

-The Indian Express Recent announcements on possible changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and restrictions on its coverage are baffling and worrisome. The passing of the MGNREGA and the Right to Information Act heralded a new vision of citizenship and state responsibility. The former created a safety net for the rural poor. The latter gave taxpayers and voters an opportunity to bridge the gap between state...

-The Hindu Business Line Commerce Ministry officials to meet PM today for consent on negotiating stand With the US softening its position on India's food security concerns at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Prime Minister's Office will now take a final call on what could be an "acceptable" solution for India on the issue. Top officials from the Commerce Ministry are scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to finalise...

-The Hindu The imperatives of governance have a tendency to make political parties think differently once they are in power and revisit earlier misgivings. Nothing illustrates this better than the Narendra Modi government's decision to go ahead with the ‘Aadhaar' scheme aimed at giving unique identification numbers to residents. The Bharatiya Janata Party had on some occasions in the past voiced its reservations about the viability and desirability of the...

-Governance Now Government surrendering assets to private players in educational field, alleges national RTE forum; plans to start nationwide campaign for last 150 days till final deadline for implementation of RTE Act on March 31, 2015 About 1 lakh schools have been closed down across the country since the enactment of the Right to Education (RTE) Act in April 2010, according to data compiled by a civil society organisation tracking the...