-TheWire.in Earning less than a living wage, migrant workers resort to living in the open, in shared and cramped rented rooms, or within the workplace. The Union Budget, announced on February 1, has committed to provide assistance for building 3.7 million houses in urban areas in 2018-19 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). However, this does little to resolve India’s urban housing crisis, which affects the poorest and most marginalised populations...

-The Times of India DEHRADUN: The National Green Tribunal imposed a complete ban on Friday on the use, sale, purchase and storage of plastic items like bags, plates and cutlery in towns located along the banks of the Ganga from Haridwar to Gangotri, a stretch of about 140 kilometres. Major tourist attractions like Haridwar's Har-Ki-Pauri ghat and Rishikeshfall under the purview of the ban. The bench headed by NGT chairperson justice Swatanter...

-The Hindu Ardent BJP supporters for the past many years, farmers, harried by the poor prices of produce, say enough is enough MORBI: Gangaram Patel, a 50-year-old farmer at Kalyanpar village in Morbi district, grows cotton and groundnut on four hectares of his land. For the past 22 years, he has been a BJP voter. However, this time, Mr. Patel says, he will change his voting preference because the party has done little...

-The Times of India VARANASI: In 2013, Temsutula Imsong moved to Varanasi and with a group of friends completely changed the look of several ghats along the Ganga. Imsong, who is from Nagaland, worked for days with her colleagues from NGO Sakaar, to manually clean the ghats that were full of garbage and excreta. Her work was even acknowledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Now, when most ghats are being looked after by...

-Livemint.com The draft guidelines propose to levy a new water conservation fee based on quantum of groundwater extracted With the aim of completely changing the way groundwater is managed, the central government has proposed guidelines which stipulate that all industries, mining and infrastructure dewatering projects—whether existing or new—that draw or propose to draw groundwater will now need to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC). The draft guidelines, reviewed by Mint, also propose to levy...