-The Hindu Mining companies have received favourable impact assessments even as they do great damage to the environment because regulators are willing to look the other way Last week, world leaders concerned about economic development got together at the International Monetary Fund, and gave a series of most instructive interviews. Our Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, said that his problem was the slowing down of India's economic growth and reduction in government revenues....

-PTI LONDON: An Indian climate change activist who works with local communities and governments for environmental change has been awarded the Commonwealth youth award. Priti Rajagopalan, 23, received a 5,000-pound grant towards her work at a ceremony held at the Commonwealth secretariat headquarters in London, the Commonwealth said on October 19. "This award inspires me to move forward and to take a lot more people with me, with the same spirit, into the...

-The Telegraph Chhatrapur: Villagers in Gopalpur are thanking their lucky stars for having escaped what could have been their worst nightmare. The port town - where the eye of cyclonic storm Phailin touched Odisha coast but not with as much intensity as had been anticipated - is yet to get a cyclone shelter. People of the coastal Nua Buxipalli village near Gopalpur said the foundation stone for the cyclone shelter there was...

-The Times of India panAJI: Six major lakes face a serious threat from pollution and rapid development, as a directive of Bombay high court at Goa to prepare a detailed plan for their protection has been relegated to the backburner. The government had constituted a task force in 2003 after the court issued a few directions to the forest department to protect Carambolim lake and take up the conservation of six other...

-The Indian Express Gurgaon: Trucks loaded with new elementary school textbooks were seen parked outside many government primary schools in Gurgaon, a little over two weeks ago - at a time when first half of the academic year is over. The reason, district school authorities said, was a problem with the tender given to a state "printing press" which delayed printing of the books. By the end of the first term, children...