-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Almost all of the most polluted cities in India are located in the north with Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan dominating the list, according to a WHO report on the most polluted cities in the world published earlier this year. Incidentally, UP, Punjab and Delhi also lie in the fog belt of northern India and there's evidence to show that Air pollution is worsening the problem....

-The Indian Express The World Universal Health Coverage Day, observed on December 12, builds on growing global momentum towards introducing universal health coverage (UHC) in national health plans and reinforces the case for including UHC as a prominent sustainable development goal to be adopted by the UN next year. India proposes to implement a programme of national health assurance, which embraces the principles of UHC. It is expected that the government...

-Economic and Political Weekly   The High-Level Committee set up by the Narendra Modi government to review the major laws relating to environment protection has, in its recommendations, worked towards two sets of objectives: one, to separate business from the messiness of governance, and, two, to redraw the line of demarcation between the judiciary and the executive. Manju Menon (manjumenon@namati.org) and Kanchi Kohli (kanchikohli@namati.org) are with the Centre for Policy Research - Namati...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today issued a notice to the Union government to enforce improved emissions standards for vehicles across India after a non-government organisation carried an Air pollution monitoring instrument inside the courtroom and found pollution levels exceeding safe limits. During the hearing of an ongoing PIL on Air pollution this afternoon, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) showed that the level of particulate matter (PM) smaller...

-Business Standard A committee set up to review laws related to protection of environment and forests, headed by former Cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian, has recommended an omnibus green law that will not only subsume existing legislation, but also hold the potential to undo existing judicial pronouncements on environmental issues. The proposed law will also do away with all existing authorities created under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. The panel's report,...