-The Times of India Nagpur: Monocrotophos, one of the pesticides used by majority of the victims, was removed from the list of recommended chemicals by Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR) much before spraying claimed over 40 lives in the region. The premier research agency of the central government issues advisories related to use of pesticide combinations on the cotton crop. Considering its hazardous nature, monocrotophos-based chemicals were removed from the list....

-The Financial Express Air pollution in Delhi has reached extremely hazardous levels, with grave health consequences. Blame has been pinned on paddy stubble burning in neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab – in fact, it is one of the main causes for the dangerous air quality index levels in the national capital and surrounding areas. This usually happens ahead of the winter season. Stubble burning is essentially a common practice followed...

-NDTV Over 600 farmers have been affected by pesticide inhalation in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region. They skipped wearing protective gear while spraying pesticide, officials claimed Mumbai: Twenty nine-year-old Inder Rathod, who works on cottons fields in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, had sprayed pesticide on the crop last week. That was the last time he saw the lush fields and fluffy cotton crop. "After the spray, I couldn't see anything. It was so sudden,"...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The government is committed to labour reforms and simplification in the related laws to safeguard workers' interest, Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said on Sunday. Listing a slew of steps to protect workers' interest, the minister said provisions have been made in the Employees' Compensation (Amendment) Act, 2017 to increase the penalty for its contravention from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000, which is extendable to Rs 1...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government has stated that safety standards in the cleaning of sewer and septic tanks are alarmingly low across the country in the wake of 10 people falling prey to cleaning sewers in a month in the capital. A review of the "Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013" (MS Act) has found that there is no information available about the cases...