-The Hindu If we oppose every solution to the problem of air pollution, how will we ever breathe clean air, asks the environmentalist Environmentalist Sunita Narain has been fighting for clean air for decades. The Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, with which she has been associated and now serves as director general, led the shift to compressed natural gas in Delhi, to reduce air pollution. Ms. Narain is on the statutory...

-The Hindu Seeks response of Centre, Punjab and Haryana govts. The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre and the governments of Punjab, Delhi and Haryana on measures taken to counter the smog and pollution choking the national capital and surrounding areas. Acknowledging the dire consequences that continued exposure to peaking levels of air pollution would visit on the public, including schoolchildren, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India...

-The Hindu Aadhaar-based Biometric Authentication does nothing in the battle against graft — there are better alternatives In a sickening way, October 2017 was like October 2002. Fifteen years ago, in Rajasthan’s Baran and Udaipur districts, there was a spate of starvation deaths. The government of the time made up fanciful stories to deny that the deaths had anything to do with hunger or government failure. In October 2017, the death of an 11-year-old...

-The Hindu On the need for action-oriented research in development policy A whole new way of looking at poverty and development policy is taking shape in the world of economics. Traditionally understood as meagreness of material resources, there is a growing realisation that poverty also depletes mental resources. Understanding of how poverty impacts behaviour, what the absence of resources does to a person’s mindset can vitaminise the poverty-fighting policy toolkit. Insights, well-designed qualitative...

-NDTV Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said air pollution in Delhi had gone beyond an acceptable level and would have an adverse health impact but it wasn't right to call it a health emergency. Panaji: Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan appears to question recent global studies that claim lakhs of people die in India due to pollution. Dr Harsh Vardhan told NDTV in an interview that "to attribute any death to a cause like...