-Down to Earth Half of India's population defecates in the open. In all probability, they will continue to do so for the next 10 years By the time you read this article, some 600 million Indians must have taken that first call of nature. But for most, it must have been very unusual: to take that hesitant and humiliating step out of their homes to defecate in the open. Everyday, an...

-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, it's party time in India. No fewer than 142 political parties have been registered with the Election Commission in the past two months. From 1,392 parties in August-September, the number swelled to 1,534 by mid-November. Godmen, builders, property dealers and retired bureaucrats are among those who have floated the parties, ostensibly to have a say in the world's largest democracy. Election...

-The Hindu In an internal briefing paper, accessed by "The Hindu", U.S. tells negotiators to delay emission cut commitments and not to agree on any time line for funds Warsaw: In an internal briefing paper prepared for its diplomats across the world ahead of the Warsaw climate negotiations, which The Hindu has accessed, the U.S. has opposed the setting up of a separate process on ‘loss and damage', pushed primarily for the...

-The Hindu Warsaw: Poland, the hosts for the U.N. Climate talks this year, and the EU came in for some harsh opposition from many developing countries, including India, for promoting the idea that the talks must deliver a new carbon market mechanism even before countries make their emission reduction targets. Carbon markets help developed countries take credit for reduction of emissions carried out by poor countries by paying for the actions. The...

-The Hindu A unique cell phone-based networking system in Chhattisgarh helps Adivasi Gonds share local news and air grievances. Deep in the jungles of Chhattisgarh, a straightforward, earthy man named Naresh Bunkar, field co-ordinator of the Adivasi Santha Manch, picks up his mobile phone and dials +918050068000, a long-distance number in Bangalore. He immediately cuts off and waits. Within seconds, he gets a call from the dialled number, and he hears a...