-The Hindu For growth to go forward, it must be environmentally and socially concordant. The launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and agreements in Paris finally signalled the realisation that we can no longer achieve our economic ambitions by endangering the environment and society. But even as countries agreed on the need to nurture sustainability, it has come under fire from the mistaken notion that doing so will slow the pace...

As Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh fight the fury of flood caused by annual northeast monsoon, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the natural disaster in Uttarakhand, which took place in June 2013, has been made available in the public domain recently. The CAG report discloses how various development activities in the state flouted guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Expert Committee on glaciers...

-The Hindu Business Line India must fight against its food exports being placed under USFDA scrutiny When it comes to free trade, the US is the world’s leading evangelist. However, while the US market overall remains one of the world’s most open markets in terms of access, when it comes to politically sensitive constituencies such as agriculture, the picture changes dramatically. The debate over farm subsidies, of course, is fairly well known....

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Even as the government is still deliberating on larger pictorial warnings on packs of tobacco products, 40% of Indian adults are exposed to second hand tobacco smoke at home. These are people who do not smoke themselves but are vulnerable to various diseases because someone smokes at home, showed a latest assessment by the World Health Organization, highlighting risks of second hand smoking and the need...

-The Hindu Business Line A pull-back from the emission reduction commitments made in 2009 is likely. But we should have a sustainable plan With the submission deadline for the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) for the Paris Climate Summit drawing near, the spotlight is once again on New Delhi. India, which is hosting a meeting of like-minded developing countries on this subject, is the last major player which is yet to announce...