-Down to Earth The report emphasises the need to normalise menstruation by looking at behaviour, infrastructure, politics and perception In an aim to make India open defecation-free by 2019, many aspects of sanitation have been undermined, such as usage, maintenance and water availability. A 2015 report by Dasra, a Mumbai-based philanthropy foundation and the Bank of America highlights another key aspect ignored when it comes to sanitation. According to the report based on data...

-Hindustan Times With nearly 200 Durga Puja pandals immersing idols in the river in Delhi-NCR, Yamuna was choked with debris. The river water was clogged with plastic bags, flower petals and pooja material, besides metal structures Delhi: The Yamuna choked on debris and waste materials on Sunday, a day after idols from nearly 200 Durga Pujas pandals in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and surrounding areas made way to the designated ghats...

-The Hindu Business Line The possible gain arising out of tax compliance has come at too high a human cost ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.’ – Benjamin Disraeli After the RBI’s latest revelations — of 99 per cent of the extinguished currency having returned to the banks — media pundits and economists have wasted no time in saying that efforts to obliterate black money have failed. However,...

-The Indian Express Despite the obvious effect this will have on the environment, the GST affects livelihoods and families of the waste pickers — most of whom are migrants. With the resale value on glass bottles becoming minuscule after the 18 per cent tax on glass products as per GST, waste collectors, who help recycle glass, paper and plastic, and have traditionally been a key link in the city’s inadequate waste management...

-The Hindu Plastic recyclers protecting margins by paying less for waste plastic Bengaluru: As the nation ushered in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on July 1, no one would have imagined that it might have adverse consequences for the environment. But with the tax rate on recycled plastic shooting up from 5.5% to 18% post-GST, ragpicking as a livelihood seems to be turning unviable, with attendant impact on the urban environment. Take...