-The Indian Express New Delhi: In an order with wide-ranging ramifications, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Tuesday passed a series of stringent directions aimed at curbing air pollution in Delhi, banning all diesel vehicles more than 10 years old from plying in the National Capital Region, and sought an immediate stop to all illegal construction activity. Picking up several points brought out in the ‘Death by Breath' series, an ongoing investigation by...

-The Indian Express New Delhi: You might not know it, but the next time you park your diesel vehicle at the shopping mall and answer that ringing phone, you would have done your bit to release a small portion of poison into Delhi's air. Not once, but thrice. From the exhaust fumes of your car to the generator sets that keep the mall alive, and the mobile tower active. So much so,...

-The Hindu The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana was introduced to provide partial wage compensation during pregnancy, but various issues plague its implementation The latest official figures indicate that India is well short of meeting the Millennium Development Goals that pledged to reduce the country's maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by three quarters and the infant mortality rate (IMR) by two-thirds. The Sample Registration System (SRS), 2013, records MMR at 167 per 1,00,000...

-Business Standard Sector players await government's decision on future of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana The government-sponsored Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is set to undergo a overhaul with a proposal to have only public general insurers manage the scheme through a trust-like structure. Sources said the bids that would have been considered for new contracts have been left unopened as the stakeholders are awaiting the government's decision on its future progress. A senior public...

-Economic and Political Weekly While the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 is a progressive piece of legislation that recognises farmers' rights to seed, it demands payment of an annual maintenance fee by the farmers to protect the varieties which they have been cultivating and conserving for years, only because these varieties have been brought under legal protection through national legislation. Parameswaran Prajeesh (prajeesh@mssrf.res.in) is a researcher with the...