-Mongabay.com * A latest government study has found that mining activities in the coal-rich Tamnar area of Chhattisgarh have put the local population, mainly tribal people, at an INCreased risk of acute respiratory diseases and tuberculosis. * The study reveals that in the case of tuberculosis, the disease burden rate in Tamnar is nearly double the national rate and almost triple the rate in the state, highlighting the adverse impact of mining. *...

-The Indian Express This is one of the startling revelations in the first-phase data of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-20 — released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on December 12 — and marks a shift sINCe the last NFHS in 2015-16. Several states across the country have reversed course and recorded worsening levels of child malnutrition despite dramatic improvements in sanitation and better access to fuel...

-Livemint.com * SBI saw total wilful defaults rise by around ₹14,000 crore in the six months to September to ₹58,475 crore *ICICI Bank is the only outlier when seen on a standalone basis, with wilful defaults falling 0.2% Eight of India’s biggest banks have seen a significant jump in wilful defaults in the six months to September, with such loans rising by over ₹37,000 crore to ₹1.5 trillion, shows data on suit-filed accounts...

-The Hindu Declining agricultural INComes and flagging state support to agriculture are some of the key structural issues The standoff between farmers and the government continues even after a few rounds of discussion and more than a fortnight of protest at the Delhi border by the farmers. The latest proposal by the government indicates its willingness to amend the three agriculture-related Acts passed in September. On the contentious issues of registration of...

-The New Indian Express According to sources, road widening, upgradation or construction projects proposals are through the forests where the tigers were recently sighted. HYDERABAD: There have been many tiger sightings in different forest areas of Telangana in the past few months, boosting hopes for revival of State’s forests which form an important part of central Indian tiger landscape. However, The New Indian Express has found that there are 24 road widening, upgradation...