The Centre on Monday earmarked a separate Rs 2,217 crore for 42 urban centres to tackle air pollution and announced the much-awaited voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and polluting vehicles, even as it shrunk the budgetary allocation for the environment ministry from the last fiscal by nearly eight percent. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech for 2021-22, announced a total of Rs 2869.93 crore for the ministry, Rs 230 crore less than the last fiscal. Officials said the outlay has been lesser this time as the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Would you wear any of these wacky outfits?
The horses on Chennai's Marina beach were slowly starving to death because of the lockdown until Shiranee Pereira decided to take a hand.
Art of Living's spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, faced the ire of activists and the National Green Tribunal for environmental violations that would occur when an event of this scale - the festival is said to have seen 3.5 million footfalls -- is hosted in an ecologically sensitive region.
Life, work and play in Drona's village.
'Virtual is the new Ritual and my mind often wonders: Did it have to take a microscopic inert organism to bring families closer?'
Four days after a scuffle between intoxicated young men on Diwali night in Trilokpuri's Block 20 spiralled into a diffused communal riot that resulted in scores of injuries, dozens of arrests, and the incineration of at least one Muslim-owned shop, the violence appears to have abated but tension and suspicion persist.
The vulnerable Olive Ridleys returned to Mumbai's shoreline after 20 years!
Millennials are flocking to places of worship, graveyards and parks, armed with their smartphones, to collect Pokemons.
Bobbing on Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay in a blue and white fishing boat, American sailor Brad Funk uses a plastic bin to scoop rubbish from the waters where Olympic sailing races will take place next month.
Asharam Choudhary, son of a ragpicker battled the odds to study at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.
'All the hotels and restaurants from where I used to eat have been shut. I used to beg but now there is no one to give me alms too'
The minister outlined proposals on cleanliness.
The fire was in the middle of the wetlands, fire brigade officials said.
'Better hygiene practices could lower a person's immunity and make the person susceptible to auto-immune diseases.'
An Indian American Silicon Valley entrepreneur has launched a unique initiative designed to get techies to volunteer their time to develop software and applications that will benefit people in India and other developing countries.
Billions of dollars pledged by developed nations in climate finance over the last decade remain unused.
Flesh-and-blood people can be invisible even when they are standing right in front of us, says Geetanjali Kishna.
Have Amethi and Rae Bareli got rough treatment in the last one year? Has Varanasi become cleaner? Business Standard's Manavi Kapur finds out
'...and the government is suppressing the truth.'
'My wife, who expresses her fears and anxieties every night when I return home after doing my duty at a COVID-19 containment zone, promptly wakes me up the next morning so that I can report for duty on time.'
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said the govt will extend a loan of Rs 551 crore to two civic bodies; and alleged a situation was being created through the ongoing strike to prepare grounds for imposition of central rule.
"We have to make government responsible for this," the bench said and asked, "Why can't govt machinery stop stubble burning?"
'It is very much a danger.' 'With Tibet following the India tradition of ahimsa and the global visibility of the Dalai Lama who embodies these values, he should be supported by India as a diplomat.' 'It would be in India's self-interest and instead of being embarrassed about his presence, India should recognise this (role).' 'By appeasing China, India does not get anything in return; they (the Chinese have not stopped) claiming Arunachal, part of Kashmir, etc.'
The Marxists are heading for their worst debacle in many elections. How will May 16, 2014 affect India's Communists? T V R Shenoy surveys the landscape.
'There are Rs 90 crore worth of medicines in government hospitals, which is sufficient for the next three months.'
As the rescue operations in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir are tapering off and the victims are being attended to in scores of relief camps, most of which have been set up by the locals, fear of an epidemic still looms in the affected areas.
I write this from Mumbai, on a day that news anchors are calling "waterlogged" and "rain drenched". A completely wasted day for the city that never sleeps, in fact. No trains, no buses, no way to leave our homes, no staff, no home delivery, no greengrocer and milkman at the door, poor TV reception, no Internet connectivity -- nothing.
India has just had one of the worst quarters in export earnings.
Examples of coordinated initiatives.
If carmakers don't explore innovations to improve safety, they could be relegated to the garbage heap by new players, says Indrajit Gupta
Whether we flew aircraft or mastered plastic surgery is immaterial for modern India, what matters is if ancient Indians understood the science and art of settlement planning, architecture and governance of natural resources. This is the history we need to learn, says Sunita Narain
Evicted contestant Jyoti Kumari gives you the inside gossip from the Bigg Boss 11 house.
After going through more than 78,000 photographs from over 4,700 photographers, the expert judges of the World Press Photo contest have announced the finalists of the 2019 competition. The panelists have selected 43 photographers from 23 countries to represent the best in photojournalism.
'This is the only place on earth where Elephas maximus climbs to these heights.'
Today humanity is churning the ocean with a thoughtless vengeance -- with toxic wastes, plastics and hazardous substances being dumped into our once pristine seas. And there is no benign Lord Shiva to rescue us from our collective greed, says Shyam Saran.
The government has become used to accounting for TDS as its income even though it knows a significant portion needs to be returned as refund
'Delhi is regretting its decision of electing Arvind Kejriwal.'
A series of bypoll losses has pushed the Modi government into panic mode. Uncharacteristically, it's letting events dictate its actions, says Shekhar Gupta.
