-Down to Earth Water bodies have become even more critical in current times when cities are facing the challenge of rapid, unplanned urbanisation Lakes and wetlands are an important part of urban ecosystem. They perform significant environmental, social and economic functions — from being a source of drinking water and recharging groundwater to supporting biodiversity and providing livelihoods. Their role becomes even more critical in the present context, when cities are facing the...

-Down to Earth Tribunal calls for doing away with general permissions given to commercial entities to withdraw groundwater The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has called for commercial entities to follow new rules for getting permission to extract groundwater. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) will now form the basis of granting such permissions, the NGT bench said. The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti (water) and the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) were ordered by the...

-Hindustan Times Handbook of Forest Conservation Act, 1980, now reads: “Prior recommendation of Standing Committee of NBWL under the provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 shall be obtained, if required, for taking developmental activities in/over an area falling within eco sensitive zones.” Railway projects, small-scale development works involving construction over less than 20,000 square metres, and under-25 MW capacity hydropower plants will not require approval from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL)...

-PTI/ The Hindu As per the latest figure, there are 40.05 crore beneficiaries of this scheme and deposits in Jan Dhan bank accounts are in excess of ₹1.30 lakh crore. More than 40 crore bank accounts have been opened under the government’s flagship financial inclusion drive Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), launched about six years ago by the Modi-government. As per the latest figure, there are 40.05 crore beneficiaries of this scheme...

-Livemint.com A few large state economies that may have seen off the worst of the pandemic are showing early signs of economic revival In early June, the Centre left lockdown orders to the states with the hope to kickstart economic recovery. The effect has been mixed across different states, partly due to their varying approaches to tackle the pandemic. While the picture looked the brightest for Rajasthan and Delhi in July, it...