-Press Release from India Resource Center New Delhi: A proposal to tax sugar sweetened beverages like tobacco in India is being welcomed by public health advocates. The proposal to increase sin taxes on aerated drinks is part of the recommendations made by India’s Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian on the upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill in the parliament of India. Taxation to reduce consumption of tobacco has been successful when used...

-Livemint.com A key condition for the success of road rationing is that alternatives are easily available A big debate on urban transport policy has been triggered by the decision of the state government of Delhi to Restrict automobile usage according to the licence plate number. The plan is to significantly reduce vehicular traffic by allowing odd and even numbers to ply the roads on alternate days. Given the city’s atrocious air...

-The Hindu The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has announced a slew of measures to address the very poor air quality and pollution in the nation’s capital. It is, in principle, a largely welcome move that could push the needle for anti-pollution measures to be adopted by other Indian cities as well. These are possibly the most significant steps taken after the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas-powered vehicles in the...

-The Hindu The Restrictions on private vehicle usage may have got most of the media coverage, but are by no means the only steps the government has announced. Nationally, over 35 per cent of urban households own a motorised two-wheeler and just under 10 per cent own a car, jeep or van. In Delhi, where per capita incomes are among the highest in the country, these proportions are much higher: nearly 40...

-The Telegraph Paris: An international foRestry research agency has accused the world's biggest users of coal, including India, of continuing their emphasis on coal-fired energy and thus threatening global efforts to curb Earth-warming greenhouse emissions. The Centre for International FoRestry Research (CIFOR) has bracketed India with Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Colombia and America as countries whose continued focus on coal is putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It has said these countries' pursuit...