Summiya Yasmeen reports on the contours, content and debate about environment education in India.

Textbooks for 800 schools in eight states were revised after a study on the teaching of environmental concepts. A Pune-based institute has recently begun an evaluation of the revisions, reports Rasika Dhavse.

The litigation in Kerala over Coca Cola's activities and the over-exploitation of water resources has moved into a crucial phase. Sreedevi Jacob reports.

A vast network is needed to keep the Narmada promises, but funding for this vital element is mostly absent, says Himanshu Upadhyaya.

Rashida Bee and Champa Devi are the winners of the prestigious Goldman Prize this year. Tarun Jain reports on a definite filip for the campaign to hold Dow Chemicals accountable for the 1984 Union Carbide gas tragedy in Bhopal.

Videh Upadhyay reviews the predicament of the Interlinking Rivers project.

The National Environmental Appellate Authority came into being in 1997 for citizens concerned with environmental impact to challenge central government clearances. But the Law Commission of India pointed out not long ago that this forum of final appeals "had very little work". Kanchi Kohli discovers more.

In biological diversity, India is one of the richest countries in the world. But widespread destruction has already taken place and this is continuing. Urgent measures to reverse the damage are both necessary and possible. Ramesh Menon sounds the wake-up call.

Even as the IPCC's latest assessment speaks of the need for technocratic solutions to the challenge of global warming, the United Nations Security Council has signalled that this will be an issue of importance to questions of political stability and peace too. Gopal Krishna reports.

The European Union is determined that even as it makes plans to reduce its own carbon emissions, it must act to curb the polluting actions of other countries too. Developing countries, however, see this as an indirect trade restriction, devoid of justice. Darryl D'Monte reports.

Twenty-one families were relocated from the core area of Sariska Tiger Reserve to a newly built township last year. The signs are that this has gone off well both for the people and the forests, reports Malini Shankar.

Kerala's biodiversity board has asked Chief Minister V S Achutanandan to reject single window clearance for the 'High Tech City' project at the exhilarating Valanthakad island in the backwaters outside Kochi. P N Venugopal reports.

The IPCC's working must be streamlined, but to call for Dr Rajendra Pachauri's removal as its head is plainly a vicious personal attack at best, writes Darryl D'Monte.

The denouement at Cancun wasn't all that different from Copenhagen. India agreed to take on binding emission cuts, while industrial countries did no more than make sympathetic noises. Darryl D'Monte reports.

The Justice M B Shah Commission set up by the Ministry of Mines may have been prematurely discontinued, but its substantial impact in the early stages and interim findings clearly point to what its final report may hold. Kanchi Kohli reports.

While there is certainly a difference in the methods by which waste is disposed of in the global North and South, there are new European technologies in this field which deserve to be looked at, albeit at some future date. Darryl D'Monte reports from a recent event in Naples.

In this edition we look at a powerful documentary on the Muzaffarnagar communal riots that shook the nation in September 2013, the plight of Pakistani Hindus refugees in Delhi, the intent behind settling the forest rights claims of tribals, the crime, atrocities and discrimination against Dalits which is on  rise, the sad state of our nation's health care system, the message of Pope Francis’s latest Encyclical, and much more.

In this edition we celebrate the World Mental Health Day by bringing you stories of some mental illness surviors, we remember the Father of the Nation with a review of film Gour Hari Dastaan inspired by his ideals. We also take a look into why developing Amravati, the capital Andhra Pradhesh, in the land earmarked for it could be a disaster, the pollution caused by chemical factories in Vapi , the corruption that is derailing our Tribal Sub Plan and more.

In this edition we look at the recently concluded India-Africa Forum Summit, how the original habitants and workers of Mumbai Port are being ignored in the port redevelopment plans, how the RTE Act faring in the State of Tamil Nadu, the rights of the Indian domestic workers, the business of illegal sand mining, how a village is showing the way to sustainable living and much more.

In this edition we have reports on the recently concluded Paris Climate Change Conference by Darryl D'Monte who was in Paris. We also look at the shocking realities faced by AID patients and their families, how CAG is in trouble in Delhi for auditing three power distributors, will the Sustainable Development Goals of UN achieve what the Millennium Development Goals failed to do and much more.

We wish you a happy and prosperous New Year 2016. We hope you will continue to support our in-depth, non-partisan journalism by donating generously to India Together at https://www.payumoney.com/paybypayumoney/#/B592DB569E40F8E281ACF34D39FFFA06.
 
We end an eventful 2015 by looking into the controversial Maheshwar Hydropower Project, what is happening to several forest cases, how some sex workers are empowering themselves by gaining legal knowledge, an interesting learning institute called Adivasi Academy, and much more.

In this edition, we have a touching write-up on caste discrimination and how it very much exists in our society, the success story of the displaced forest dwellers of Ranthambhore, the protests by tribals against the mining companies in Odissa, how school going girls in West Bengal are saying no to child marriage, and more.

In this edition, we look into the reformation of our Public Distribution System, how Dalits are portrayed in Hindi cinema, emergence of grassroot movements in different parts of India for sustainable and equitable way of living, interesting stories from the state of Manipur, and more.

A new mechanical device that makes areca nut harvesting less labour-intensive and hence affordable could solve one of the major problems faced by farmers of the crop. Shrikrishna D reports.

Rapid industrial growth brought wealth but also unchecked pollution to the town of Vapi. It impacted the local fishing communities by destroying their livelihoods. Manisha Goswami and Bharat Patel report on the decades of damage caused by the chemical industries in the area.

In an upper to middle income household a domestic help and her services are indispensable. Yet, she is not given the diginity, living wages and other benefits one gets in the organised sector. Pushpa Achanta talks to the activists working for the domestic workers' rights to find out more.

Pushpa Achanta describes the unrelenting efforts of the KDMV in educating members of the Dalit and Adivasi communities about their legal entitlements and helping them wage battles for justice in cases involving caste atrocity and discrimination.

Ruling on a petition by French environmental groups and Greenpeace, France's conseil d'Etat (Supreme Court) suspended the decision to send the decommissioned warship Le Clemenceau to India for scrapping. Three days before his arrival in India on a brief visit, President Chirac ordered the recall. Gopal Krishna finds out more.

It is tragic that the new Amendment to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) (CLPR) Act, 2016, which has a seemingly progressive framework, has been largely diluted by chicanery, opines Kathyayini Chamaraj.

Child Relief and You works with NEWS to set up a hostel for gypsy children, so their education does not become hostage to their parents' migrations.

With tens of thousands still displaced over a week since the Tsunami disaster, some schools are yet to reopen and others are seeing low attendance. And as children wait anxiously in TN relief camps, more awe-inspiring stories are emerging. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

A multi-state campaign to draw attention to the adverse effect of agriculture and trade policies on sugarcane farmers has just ended. Padmalatha Ravi spoke with farmers and campaign coordinators in Tamilnadu, and traces the growth and decline of agricultural families' fortunes around this crop.

The proposed National ID should be a backbone upon which governance and economic development rest comfortably, rather than merely a tool for auditing schemes, writes Ashwin Mahesh.

Lobbyists for agri-business interests will promote their agenda, naturally, but we must judge the merit of introducing more GE crops in India ourselves. Common sense, and all the data that is open to scrutiny, suggests that we should not, says P V Satheesh.

As debates around genetically modified (GM) mustard pick up in India, Shalini Bhutani takes a look at the neglected diversity of the oilseed mustard crop on native farmers’ fields and points to the bias of the existing law.

Once among the most productive agrarian economies in the country, this region of Thanjavur district is now reeling. Lalitha Sridhar reports on the situation and implications.

Shortage of water has been a tale of woe in Rajasthan for decades. But this year, the state's largest circulated Hindi daily, Rajasthan Patrika, has motivated around 155,000 volunteers to clean up 388 discarded traditional ponds and wells. Ramesh Menon reports from Jaipur.

The Coke saga in Kerala took a new twist towards the end of 2005 when the company expressed its interest to shift out of Plachimada to a nearby industrial estate where water consumption may be less contested. Meanwhile, the tussle between Coke and the Perumatty Panchayat awaits resolution at the Supreme Court, reports P N Venugopal.

In many part of rural India, women spend most of their time walking long distances to collect water for their household's needs. Nitin Jugran Bahuguna visits the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand where the women no longer have to worry about fetching water from long distances thanks to an intervention that has brought potable water right to their doorstep.

A two-day dialogue on urban rivers held in Pune focused on the plight of urban rivers. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports and presents his views.

Were we interested in a comfortable home for Medhi, or were we looking to give her just another house from our stable of development schemes? R Balasubramaniam remembers a lesson he learned well.

In the second in a series of two articles, Jayaprakash Narayan discusses on the connection between the fiscal crisis and decentralization of political power.

Third in a series of articles on civil society and governance, Jayaprakash Narayan says that political parties have to be transformed and maintains that visions of partyless democracy are unalloyed idealism.

An Andhra Pradesh federation is aiming to transform the state's panchayats and municipalities into genuine Local Governments.

Top-down water supply and sanitation schemes have failed the poor time and again. But for decentralization and community involvement to work, local governments -- municipalities -- must improve. Surekha Sule reports on the findings of a global assessment that included India.

The state is by far the biggest litigant, and contributes a large part to the staggering backlog clogging the courts. The Centre, States and public sector companies determinedly appeal every adverse verdict, despite winning only a small minority of them eventually. Kannan Kasturi reports.

Goa's land allocation policy to SEZs has been indicted for massive irregularities by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The list of violations is more or less a case the fence eating the crop, finds out Himanshu Upadhyaya.

A complete and accurate database of dams and rivers in the country is the first pre-requisite for analysing hydrological issues and safety, but an analysis by Himanshu Thakkar shows that the authority entrusted to maintain such records clearly has a long way to go.

Blanket surveillance of the kind envisaged by India's Centralized Monitoring System achieves little, but blatantly violates the citizen's right to privacy; Snehashish Ghosh explores why it may be dangerous and looks at potential safeguards against such intrusion.

A performance audit of NREGS implementation in Karnataka reveals several anomalies, delays and variance with what had been envisaged; yet, 60 per cent of surveyed beneficiaries report a positive impact on their lives. Himanshu Upadhyaya presents a summary of key findings from the audit.