-The Hindu Release of industrial effluents, dumping of clothes and waste temporarily stops due to lockdown The strict enforcement of 21-day lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has turned out to be a boon for the Cauvery and other rivers in the old Mysuru region as the prohibition of industrial and religious activities has helped in reducing pollution level in the rivers. According to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), the Cauvery...

-The Hindu Business Line The proposals relating to registration of seed varieties and powers granted to the government to fix prices in some situations need a relook Seed is the primary input of a productive agriculture set-up. No one can deny the fact that the seed industry has been at the centre of the significant advances made in agriculture in the last four decades and will continue to do in the years...

-Financial Express There is an irony being played out in Delhi. While the national capital is reeling under one of its worst spells of air pollution, the Delhi government is bringing out a series of advertisements claiming that the pollution levels are down by 25%. The advertisements mention that the levels of PM 2.5—particulate matter of size less than 2.5 microns—have reduced from 154 microgrammes per cubic meter (µg/m3) during 2012-2014 to...

-Hindustan Times Beijing’s four-tier emergency response plan kicks in based on air quality index (AQI) forecasts and not actual recorded concentrations. Delhi’s deadly air pollution has exposed the lack of preparedness in NCR states to implement the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). It has also shown that many interventions under GRAP should have kicked in much earlier based on forecasts rather than when particulate matter concentrations were already peaking. Beijing’s four-tier emergency response...

-Down to Earth Enforcement of graded response action plan on pollution hotspots in the national capital can help achieve clean air Delhi has, in the last 10 years, made visible strides in ameliorating its air quality. Director General of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Sunita Narain and Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director and head of the air pollution and clean transportation programme at CSE discuss how this was achieved and how to bring...