-The Hindu Creates toxic smoke and poses serious environmental threat, says petition Mumbai: The National Green Tribunal has banned the burning of tyres at public places, such as roads and areas surrounded by residential buildings and also during protests by political and religious groups as it is likely to cause health hazard. The Western Zone Bench of NGT was hearing the petition against the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the State of...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: The government on Friday introduced the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill in Rajya Sabha, seeking to increase reservation for disabled persons in public sector jobs from the existing 3% to 5% and reserve seats for them in higher education institutions. Persons with disabilities under the proposed legislation -- which also seeks to broaden the ambit of disability from seven to 19 sub-categories -- will, however,...

-The Business Standard Observes that giving Aadhaar to non-citizens shouldn't be a problem The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the government to clarify the structure of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to ascertain the legal validity of the agreements UIDAI had entered into with states. The court, while hearing a joint review petition by government agencies on its order on linking UID, or Aadhaar, numbers with government services, also...

-CivilSocietyOnline.com More than 50 people, including tribal groups, social activists, water experts, ecologists, wildlife experts and academics, came together for a brainstorming workshop on ‘Dams coming up for Mumbai Region.' The meeting was organised by the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, Shramik Mukti Sangathana, and Jalbiradari. About 12 dams are planned or are under construction to satisfy the increasing thirst of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). All these dams...

-The Indian Express Social audits should not be judged by state response alone. They create awareness about rights and create engaged citizens. This article is in response to Farzana Afridi's ‘Social audit isn't enough' (IE, January 22). Social audits have been enshrined as one of the transparency and accountability tools in the MGNREGA. Such accountability mechanisms aim to strengthen the otherwise weak institutions of delivery as they engage the beneficiaries in the...