-The Hindu Once slotted as vermin, these animals are "open season" and could become easy game for hunters as well as traders in meat. Since 2015, the Union Environment Ministry has acceded to requests from Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar to declare wild boar, rhesus macaque, and nilgai as vermin within specified territories of these States, and outside forests and protected areas. This reprieve means that those who kill these animals here...

-International Rivers With an enduring drought ravaging many parts of the country, last month the Prime Minister waxed eloquent on the need to safeguard water during his monthly radio monologue. He raised some valid points on cropping patterns, frugal water use, collection and storage traditions etc., but he was conspicuously silent on the need to protect wetlands. Perhaps it’s no coincidence then that the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change recently...

-Business Standard Large green patches, apart from recorded forests, to get protection. Clarity to help industry In a move that is expected to have far-reaching consequences for protection of forests while ensuring ease of doing business for mining sector, realty sector and industry, the Union environment ministry has defined what constitutes a forest under the Forest Conservation Act 1980 (FCA). The legal definition, pending since 2006, will help in identifying areas where development...

-Business Standard Official panel points to bid deficiencies in rural job guarantee, pensions, housing and other programmes Wage payment delays are a distressing feature of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), an official panel says. This has to be adequately addressed, by  the Centre and states, to keep the programme’s spirit alive, it has said. It and some other findings of concern are the result of a multi-state Common Review...

Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought   The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...