-The United Nations If all women in poor countries completed primary education, child mortality would drop by one-sixth saving almost one million lives, the United Nations educational agency today reported highlighting the links between schooling and achieving a new set of sustainable development targets. "The benefits of education permeate all walks of life right from the moment of birth," said Irina Bokova, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)...

-The United Nations The Earth's protective ozone layer is on track to recover by the middle of the century, the United Nations today reported, urging unified action to tackle climate change and curb continued fluctuations to the composition of the atmosphere. That is according to the assessment of 300 scientists in the summary document of the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2014, published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN...

-The Business Standard Forest Rights Act being reinterpreted to avoid amendment Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is discussing possible ways to do away with the mandatory requirement of securing consent from tribal gram sabhas (village councils) before cutting down their forests for industrial purposes. The deliberations, on among various ministries, are for zeroing in on such a way that the requirement is removed without...

-The Business Standard The ministry has eased coal production expansion norms "to quickly ramp up coal production for enhancing power generation" The Centre has set up a high-level committee to review various environmental laws. According to an environment ministry note, the panel, headed by former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian, will review the Environment Protection Act of 1986, Forest Conservation Act of 1980, Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, Water Act of 1974...

-The Hindu Trap crops are grown to attract insects or other organisms to protect main crops from pest attack. Protection may be achieved either by preventing the pests from reaching the crop or by concentrating them in certain parts of the field where they can be destroyed. The principle of trap cropping rests on the fact that virtually all pests show a distinct preference to a certain crop stage. Farmers are being...