-The Hindu   Government plans to initiate 100 smart cities It's curtains for the UPA government's flagship programme, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The new Union Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister (HUPA), M. Venkaiah Naidu, who assumed office on Wednesday, said a new mission would be launched soon in place of JNNURM. The new mission would focus on the modern concept for cities based on GIS-based planning...

-Down to Earth   India needs second-generation reforms in environmental governance to protect environment and community rights and reduce transaction costs for industry After more than two years of flip-flops by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), the Supreme Court (SC) gave a deadline of April 30, this year to the ministry to start the process of setting up a national environmental regulator under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, with offices...

-The United Nations   Public procurement can contribute to making food systems more fair and sustainable, and help realize the human right to adequate food, according to a United Nations independent expert. "When sourcing food for schools, hospitals and public administrations, Governments have a rare opportunity to support more nutritious diets and more sustainable food systems in one fell swoop," Olivier De Schutter said in his final publication to the UN Human Rights...

-The Indian Express   Human capital inequality is what India needs to be most concerned about right now.   THOMAS PIKETTY's Capital in the Twenty-First Century has attracted a great deal of attention, especially (it seems) where I live, in Washington DC. Some people have said the city has caught a severe case of "Piketty fever". Everyone seems to be talking about the book - clearly many more people than have read its 700...

-The Indian Express   A new study on the Dal Lake could point the way in dealing with ecological challenges   A multi-dimensional group of experts from the Bangalore-based biodiversity and environment think tank, ATREE (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment), embarked on a wide-ranging study to save Srinagar's Dal Lake. The ATREE team of experts includes a water quality scientist, a hydrologist, a sociologist, an institutional management and governance expert and...