-Live Mint   The cost of pollution will determine effective implementation of standards It has long been suspected but never established as a comparable fact. New Delhi is a city with one of the poorest air quality in the world. New data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) show that in 2013 the city had a very high concentration of particulate matter of size 2.5 microns (153 micrograms/cubic metre). Thirteen of the...

-The Hindu   Development is as much a process of providing services as of removing obstacles and giving freedom from all sorts of discrimination. In what is perhaps one of India's most communal, polarising, divisive and personalised election campaigns, we are told far too often that this election is really about development. Yet, none of the political parties clearly defines development either in their speeches or in their manifestoes. So, what do they...

-The Hindustan Times   New Delhi: As over 1.30 lakh people die in road traffic accidents every year in India, the Supreme Court on Tuesday set up a three-member panel to monitor implementation of road safety measures, including emergency medical help to accident victims. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam asked the government to extend better medical facilities made available on an experimental basis on national highways to...

-The Business Standard   Agreement 'endorsed' by members and being legally vetted but will be part of the main Doha agenda only after a tenuous process After the euphoria over an "Indian victory" at the ninth ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Bali, Indonesia, not much has moved on the agreed agenda. The 159 members of the WTO managed to adopt the 'Bali package' after last December's meeting, the global trade...

-The Hindu   Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar on Wednesday said the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was under the scanner as there were complaints of diversion of workers to public meetings of political parties. At a press conference here, the CEO said the Returning Officer of each constituency had been asked to keep a watch on the work under the scheme. "We have asked them to...