-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's apex pollution control agency is about to take on the role of "Big Brother" for industries, acquiring the capability for 24-hour surveillance of select factories through a network of sensors, communication channels and cameras. The Union environment and forests ministry has launched a nationwide pollution tracking system that will allow the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to continuously monitor the gas and liquid effluents discharged by select...

-The Hindu Narendra Modi has asked for land rights to be granted quickly to tribals, but for that to happen, the forest bureaucracy’s stranglehold on power must first go On June 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) to ensure that all States implement the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and grant land rights to tribals over the next two months. Mr. Modi’s announcement is welcome, but nevertheless...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The health ministry's proposals to amend the abortion law have contradictory clauses that could force women to take unjustified decisions about their foetuses, a Mumbai gynaecologist said today, echoing concerns shared by other doctors. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 prohibits abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. But the ministry, in a draft document released last year, has proposed changes to make the duration of pregnancy...

-The Hindu Business Line Calls for restructuring Nafed for effective procurement of pulses, oilseeds   Bengaluru: The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has made a pitch for encouraging water use efficiency in agriculture. As part of its non-price policy recommendations for kharif 2015-16, the crop advisory body has suggested that States fix quantitative ceilings on per hectare use of both water and electricity. The farm sector accounts for about 83 per cent...

-Hindustan Times Mumbai: For a state considered the sugar bowl of the country and home to generations of politically heavyweight co-operative doyens, this is a sign of changing times. The drought-prone Solapur district in western Maharashtra, which has the highest number of sugaR factories in the state (33), has finally decided to put a stop to cultivation of the water-guzzling sugarcane crop, with its collector saying the area under cultivation for the...