-Hindustan Times Beijing’s four-tier emergency response PLAn kicks in based on air quality index (AQI) forecasts and not actual recorded concentrations. Delhi’s deadly air pollution has exposed the lack of preparedness in NCR states to implement the Graded Response Action PLAn (GRAP). It has also shown that many interventions under GRAP should have kicked in much earlier based on forecasts rather than when particulate matter concentrations were already peaking. Beijing’s four-tier emergency response...

-The Indian Express First developed in 1970, glyphosate is scientifically N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine under the IUPAC system of nomenclature. It is applied to the leaves of PLAnts to kill weeds. It is widely used in India, too. German pharma company Bayer is facing thousands of lawsuits over one of its products. A Reuters report said 42,700 PLAintiffs in the US are blaming Bayer’s herbicides for their cancer, up from 18,400 PLAintiffs in...

  Air quality in North India in general and Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi NCR) in particular plunged to its lowest point in recent years during October-November thanks to a variety of factors. Through media reports one comes to know that stubble burning (also called paddy straw burning/ crop residue burning) is chiefly responsible for the public health crisis in India's capital and its nearby regions. Data accessed from the website...

-The Hindu Business Line It will deepen the ASEAN FTA impact Fast-paced moves are on to conclude the talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and seal an agreement. There have been noises of protest from the Congress party which was the chief architect of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and numerous other FTAs in the pipeline. Protests even from within the Sangh Parivar have not deterred the Modi government...

-The Indian Express The UN Population Division estimates that the medium fertility variant, the most likely scenario, will result in a peak population of 165 crore in the year 2061 and a decline thereafter. The mention of a population explosion by the prime minister in his Independence Day speech has rekindled debate on population growth and family PLAnning. The responses have varied. Some have called for a law to limit family...