-The Times of India MUMBAI: Eight years after the RTI Act was enacted, a reality check reveals that accessing information in most parts of the country is a long wait. While most states do not have enough commissioners and the pendency of appeals has only increased, in several other parts of India, the process of hearing appeals has become non-functional. RTI activist Sunil Ahya, who commissioned the survey by connecting with information...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A global analysis of how nations tackle environmental challenges has ranked India 155 among 178 nations and labelled the country's air quality among the worst in the world, tying it with China in exposing its population to hazardous air pollution. The Environmental Performance Index 2014, generated by researchers at Yale University in the US, has bracketed India among "bottom performers" on several indicators such as environmental health...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: Last month, TV grabs of two migrant labourers with their right palms missing sent shock waves across the state. Hailing from Kalahandi district, part of Odisha's poor KBK belt, Nilambar Dhangada and Bialu Nial had to lose their palms for refusing to do the bidding of the labour contractor who had hired them for work in Raipur but was forcing them to go to Andhra Pradesh and work at...

-The United Nations If demand for new land on which to grow food continues at the current rate, by 2050, high-end estimates are that area nearly the size of Brazil could be ruined, with vital forests, savannahs and grassland lost, the United Nations today warned in a new report. Up to 849 million hectares of natural land may be degraded, according to report, "Assessing Global Land Use: Balancing Consumption with Sustainable Supply",...

-Grain.org "We take care of the cow and the cow takes care of us," says Marayal, a farmer in Thalavady, Tamil Nadu. Her two cows produce 6 to 10 litres of milk a day, which she sells for 30-40 cents per litre. Across India, there are millions of backyard dairy farmers like Marayal. Each owning just one or two cows, these farmers supply millions more families and hundreds of thousands of informal...