Observing that time was running out to save the Ganga, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked States to take action against industries polluting the river. Addressing the third meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) here on Tuesday, Dr. Singh expressed unhappiness over the States' efforts in sewage treatment. He asked the State governments to send proposals for new sewage treatment plants, for which adequate funding was available with the Centre....

-The United Nations Africa and Asia together will account for 86 per cent of all growth in the world’s urban population over the next four decades, the United Nations said today, adding that this unprecedented increase will pose new challenges in terms of jobs, housing and infrastructure.   Africa’s urban population will increase from 414 million to over 1.2 billion by 2050 while that of Asia will soar from 1.9 billion to 3.3...

In this year's budget, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has essentially tried to consolidate the gains from the initiatives he had launched during the previous two budgets. Thus, in agriculture there is no new initiative except increasing the target for agricultural credit to Rs.5,75,000 crore during 2012-13. This represents an increase of over Rs.1,00,000 crore from last year. The interest rate of four per cent recommended by the National Commission...

-The Telegraph The economic survey has challenged an international assessment that has ranked India 125, or near-bottom, among 132 countries on environmental performance, but has acknowledged that air pollution has increased to alarming levels. The survey, released by the Union government today, has questioned the methodology of the Environmental Performance Index 2012 that has assigned air quality in India a rank of 132, the worst in the world, and similarly low ranks...

-The Hindu   PMO holds talks with Magsaysay Award winner Rajendra Singh The Prime Minister's Office has asked Magsaysay Award winner Rajendra Singh – better known as Waterman -- to re-consider his resignation from the National Ganga River Basin Authority. Mr. Singh and his Authority colleagues Ravi Chopra and R. H. Siddiqi had quit two days ago in protest against alleged indifference of the Central Government towards protection of the Ganga river. Mr. Singh has...