The Indian Express The BJP-NDA members, while underlining that environment is an important issue, are learnt to have suggested that the committee can discuss the final draft once it is released. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change began discussing the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 notification despite objections raised by some BJP-NDA members at a meeting on Friday. The ruling alliance members, it is...

-Newsclick.in The document is exclusionary, reactionary and promotes conformism aimed at serving the interests of capitalism In a document like the New Education Policy, one must distinguish platitudes from new provisions, including the dropping of old platitudes. Thus, phrases like “education is a public good”, “6 per cent of GDP should be earmarked for education” are just platitudes, unless some concrete suggestions are advanced to realise these. In short, repeating old platitudes is...

-Economic and Political Weekly Integrated and long-term solutions are needed to mitigate the adverse impacts of floods. With the early onset of the monsoon, heavy rainfall and concomitant flooding have caused widespread destruction and loss of lives, livestock and crops in many parts of the country. Although floods occur annually, this time around, the floods occurring at the time of the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country had slowed...

The newly released Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2016-18 shows that India's maternal mortality ratio (MMRatio) has reduced from 130 maternal deaths per one lakh live births during 2014-16 to 122 during 2015-17, and it further dropped to 113 during 2016-18. According to the Sample Registration System (SRS), the MMRatio refers to the number of women who die as a result of complications of pregnancy or childbearing in a...

-Down to Earth Water bodies have become even more critical in current times when cities are facing the challenge of rapid, unplanned urbanisation Lakes and wetlands are an important part of urban ecosystem. They perform significant environmental, social and economic functions — from being a source of drinking water and recharging groundwater to supporting biodiversity and providing livelihoods. Their role becomes even more critical in the present context, when cities are facing the...