-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday recast the almost defunct Prime Minister's council on climate change, a move seen as an effort to handle climate issues pro-actively from the top. The revamped body is to meet soon to take key policy decisions ahead of the Lima climate conference next month. environmentalist Sunita Narain has been dropped from the body - an apparent reflection of the Centre's discomfiture with...

-The Guardian Agriculture hit by both urban and rural pollution as wheat and rice yield decrease significantly, study finds Air pollution in India has become so severe that yields of crops are being cut by almost half, scientists have found. Researchers analysed yields for wheat and rice alongside pollution data, and concluded significant decreases in yield could be attributed to two air pollutants, black carbon and ground level ozone. The finding has...

-The Hindu Over 40 groups wrote to the Prime Minister and the Union Minister of State for environment, on Tuesday, expressing concern over "consistent efforts of the Ministry of environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to bring out resolutions and executive orders in violation of the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (or the Forest Rights Act (FRA))". In separate letters to the Prime Minister...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The innocuous feeding bottle could be silently causing serious harm to babies' health in many cities. A study by Toxics Link, an environmental NGO, has found high bisphenol A levels even in BPA-free feeding bottles. Persistent exposure to BPA, a chemical used to harden plastics, has been linked to disruption of normal hormone levels, behavioural problems, increased risk of cancer and many other health issues....

-PTI Chandigarh: The illegal practice of burning paddy stubble has been going on unabated in some parts of Punjab and Haryana despite a government ban on it causing air pollution and health-related issues, agri-experts said. According to Vice Chancellor of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Dr B S Dhillon, stubble burning is causing multiple problems that include affecting the soil health, besides causing environmental pollution. "Hazy weather was witnessed recently which could have...