Similar traffic restrictions in other cities did not see a significant improvement in air quality only because car owners begin making more trips during their unrestricted periods. The other apprehension, as seen in other cities, is that residents have bought secondhand cars, using the other number plate so that they can continue to drive to their work place, thereby defeating the very purpose of this scheme.
India consistently ranked among the top three countries whose products were rejected for import by the regulator.
Rickshaw pullers and construction workers are the worst hit.
'Ask a beat journalist their opinion, and you will always be told that they are more worried about writing something that would upset a company than something that would anger a politician,' says Mihir S Sharma.
The tragedy is not the inevitable drought or the inevitable flood. It is our inevitable lack of ability to push and get done what needs to be done, says Sunita Narain.
Bunker Roy, founder of the Barefoot College at Tilonia in Rajasthan, was awarded the Clinton Global Citizen Award at a ceremony in New York on September 25.
Our governments are easily prone to arbitrary decisions but if you are dealing with international firms, such arbitrariness can turn back and bite you, says T N Ninan.
After rows over water usage at its plants in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, it is now the turn of its Gujarat factory.
Experts are unanimously endorsing that a reduction in the volume of cars is bringing down levels of gaseous pollutants in New Delhi.
Pollution is not merely the price to be paid for growth; it is also a drag on the same growth.
FSSAI will put the draft guidelines in front of a seven-member expert committee.
We need to clarify the rules for legal slaughterhouses and make sure that these can be enforced.
Experts question Nestle's silence over Maggi controversy.
The air pollution problem in the national capital won't go away till we take action -- such as ban the use of dirty fuels, ramp up public transport and oversee crop burning, says Sunita Narain.
Growing and harvesting trees for productive and economic uses are once again dead in the water, says Sunita Narain.
"I will also cycle to my office on January 22," Kejriwal said while addressing a gathering in Dwarka.
Pramod Kumar Julka, former dean and professor of oncology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, tells Nikita Puri why this is a cause for concern.
We need to know that the sources of pollution and the action to be taken are known. But what is needed is to act. Plain and simple. So, focus, on each source and each action; who has to do what and by when
FSSAI to remove potassium bromate from food additives list
The problem is to integrate the technology with a system of household level segregation so that waste does not end up in landfills, but is processed and reused.
Now that the second phase of the odd-even scheme in Delhi is over, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wants to project it as a success, with an eye on the Punjab polls next year, says Kavita Chowdhury.
Now we need to fight back to reclaim our food and our habits. The only way to do so is to rediscover food as pleasure and be thrilled, not just by its smells and tastes, but also by the knowledge it embodies, says Sunita Narain.
Banning meat is cruel demonetisation. It is stealing from the poor, nothing less, writes Sunita Narain.
Air quality in the national capital deteriorated alarmingly a day after Diwali as pollution levels spiked more than five times higher than normal leaving many at the risk of respiratory problems.
What will Indian cities do about its growing mountains of waste?
Centre for Science and Environment said that Delhi has lost the air quality gains of odd and even scheme.
It is clear that the world desperately needs a globalisation model that will work for all and not just some, says Sunita Narain.
Lack of sanitation is leading to avoidable deaths of infants, and underweight and stunted children.
The fact is that BS-IV vehicles, particularly diesel trucks, are much less polluting than BS-III ones, says Sunita Narain.
New ventures are emerging to take the stigma out of this garbage sorting business.
As visibility remained poor and the city choked due to a haze, the Centre for Science and Environment asked the Delhi govt to roll out stringent plans for controlling winter pollution.
Brand ambassadors and their lackeys are busy opposing the idea of being held accountable, even though they are ready to take all the money, says Sunita Narain.
City governments must work out the treatment system for faecal sludge.
The disagreements over what needs to be done on floodplains allows for illegal takeover by land mafia till nothing is left, observes Sunita Narain
Public bicycle-sharing systems are entering this untapped market.
The announcement declaring New Delhi Municipal Council a winner of the smart city challenge came when the rest of Delhi was drowning in urban waste.
Building toilets, however essential, must not be confused with sanitation and the crying need for a revamp of India's sewage systems.
The air quality in Delhi is turning worse, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.
Another catastrophe awaits us - living in a more inequitable, insecure, and intolerant world.
Senior journalist Darryl D'Monte reports exclusively for Rediff.com from Paris.
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