-The Hindu On several significant items relating to the environment, allocations have remained stagnant or fallen In 1991, when the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh ushered in economic reforms that catapulted India into the global economy, I had asked him how he intended to balance rapid economic growth with environmental protection. He said that the experience of the West is that once there is enough money in the economy through growth, it...

-The Hindu They play a vital role in human resources development, they tell Centre A group of 100 disability rights organisations and activists wrote to Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawarchand Gehlot asking him not to go ahead with the proposed merger and closure of several institutes under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD). They said the institutes and regional centres were set up by the government “in pursuit of...

-The Hindu Business Line Principal Employers not registered with EPFO can register on the Unified Portal and add details of their contractor(s), contract employees The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched a new electronic facility for Principal Employers which makes it easier for them to view EPF compliances of their contractors. EPFO made the announcement on its Twitter handle on Monday. “EPFO launches electronic facility for PRINCIPAL EMPLOYERS to view EPF compliances of...

-PTI/ The Hindu The 2019 study, spanning 40 years of satellite observations across India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, indicates that climate change is eating the Himalayas’ glaciers, the researchers said. As a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Sunday, leading to massive floods, a study published in 2019 had warned that Himalayan glaciers have been melting twice as fast since the start of this century...

-The Tribune A rare incident, they say; temperatures rising in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region Experts are citing climate change as the reason behind the flood caused by a glacier breaking off in Uttarakhand, a “rare incident” by any measure according to them. Prima facie this looks very much like a climate change event as the glaciers are melting due to global warming, says Anjal Prakash, the lead author of the ongoing 6th Assessment...