-The Hindu The shutdown of the 220 MW Unit-1 of the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station located in Gujarat’s Surat district following leakage of heavy water used to cool the nuclear reactor, on March 11, the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster in Japan, is at once a reminder of the inherent risks associated with operating nuclear reactors and the importance of augmenting safety mechanisms. Unlike the Fukushima accident,...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Union environment ministry has reclassified industries depending on their pollution potential, ranging from 60 "red" category units prohibited from ecologically fragile and protected areas to 36 "white" industries that will not require any environmental clearance. The list released today after a year-long internal exercise is intended to appropriately reflect the pollution potential of India's diverse industrial units taking into account their emissions, effluents, hazardous wastes and consumption...

-The Times of India NAVI MUMBAI: Borze, a tiny village in the water-starved Pen taluka of Raigad district, stopped waiting for the state government and their local politician of various hues to give them the much-needed clean water. Instead, the villagers recently tied up with a private company to set up an innovative "water ATM" that locals refer to as "ATW," or any time water. This is the first time in the...

-The Telegraph Paris: An international forestry research agency has accused the world's biggest users of coal, including India, of continuing their emphasis on coal-fired energy and thus threatening global efforts to curb Earth-warming greenhouse emissions. The Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has bracketed India with Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Colombia and America as countries whose continued focus on coal is putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It has said these countries' pursuit...

-Hindustan Times If you thought climate change was only about melting glaciers and sinking islands, you have underestimated it. A report by C40, a global network of 82 megacities--including Delhi--committed to fighting climate change, says that at least 70% of these urban centres are already affected by climate change. Not all of them are coast or hill towns. As population is increasing in these megacities, rising pollution, growing congestion and mounting waste...