-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Almost all of the most polluted Cities in India are located in the north with Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan dominating the list, according to a WHO report on the most polluted Cities in the world published earlier this year. Incidentally, UP, Punjab and Delhi also lie in the fog belt of northern India and there's evidence to show that air pollution is worsening the problem....

-The Hindu Business Line Move to make the Act more industry-friendly New Delhi: With elections in Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir almost over, the Government is likely to consider an ordinance to bring changes in the Land Acquisition Act. Government sources said amendments are likely to include toning down the consent process and removing the mandatory preparation of Social Impact Assessment Study, besides expansion of the exemption list in the existing Act. This...

-The Hindu Total fertility rate in 8 States below 2 children per woman Fertility is falling faster than expected in India, and the country is on track to reach replacement levels of fertility as soon as 2020, new official data shows. The 2013 data for the Sample Registration Survey (SRS), conducted by the Registrar General of India, the country's official source of birth and death data, was released on Monday. The SRS shows that...

-The Times of india Nearly a third of rural households and a quarter of urban ones are indebted according to a survey report released this week. This is understandable with the spread of credit facilities. But the scale of indebtedness revealed is astonishing: between 2002 and 2012, the average amount owed by each family has jumped seven times in Cities and more than four times in rural areas. About 22% of urban...

-The Hindu The programme needs to retain the momentum of a movement than that of a litter-cleaning project "Slum districts... consisted of poorly built houses, a deficiency of ventilation and toilets, unpaved narrow streets, mud, and stomach-turning stenches due to the presence of decaying refuse and sewerage. In such conditions, ill health was observably endemic." This is not a description of Indian Cities today (though it may well be), but of Britain around...