-The Indian Express The Centre plans to fix minimum national monthly wages at around Rs 15,000 for all jobs in both the formal and informal sectors in the country. The National Minimum Wages Act, 1948, lays down minimum wages for 45 listed economic activities, which also serve as minimum wages for these activities in the states. However, states can specify minimum wages for over 1,600 economic activities. Raising floor wages to Rs 15,000...

-The Hindu Though the Union Environment Ministry acknowledges its damage, Uttarakhand's hydroelectric project-driven development agenda remains unchanged Chaaen, a village atop a hill in the picturesque Alaknanda Valley, is infamous for getting a hydroelectric project into trouble. I first visited the village last year while covering the worst flood disaster Uttarakhand had witnessed. On June 26, 2013, as I stood at Narendra Singh's verandah in Chaaen, I noticed how the walls had developed...

-The Times of India KOLKATA: The fragile Sundarbans region stared at an ecological nightmare after a vessel carrying 350 tonnes of oil crashed, spilling the toxic liquid over an 80-sq-km area along the Sela river in Bangladesh and threatening a sanctuary of rare Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins. The site, near Mongla port, is about 100km from the Kolkata port and Indian officials are on alert over the possibility of the oil slick...

-IANS Bhubaneswar: The status of "National Heritage Animal" to elephants has done little to save them, and at least 427 jumbos have perished in the last seven years in Odisha. Though the state claims it has taken steps to protect the animal, experts say industrialisation and urbanisation are the main reasons for elephant deaths. Elephants are continuously barging into human habitations, triggering a conflict. At least 23 people and 26 elephants have died...

-Business Standard Environment ministry also plans to cut the two-stage mandatory clearances under the Environment Protection Act to a single stage, shaving six months from the process   The central government is working to substantially cut red tape at the environment ministry by doing away with multiple applications for all the green clearances that a project developer requires. A single comprehensive application would soon replace the existing multiple-window system. The environment ministry also plans...