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.

What happens if you decide to expand your industrial project without getting fresh environment clearances? In Jindal Steel's case, it appears, you get to go on scot free. Kanchi Kohli reports.

The new coastal zone regulation reads as a compendium of the myriad exceptions to the few rules - a move away from managing the coastal natural resources based on principles to one based on discretion. Kannan Kasturi reports.

Were mobile towers primarily responsible for the dwindling number of house sparrows across India? Deepa Mohan studies the findings of a recent survey to explore the more likely reasons behind this wane of the species.

Could India’s inflexible and rather aggressive attitude in global climate negotiations jeopardise its domestic mitigation of the real threats from climate change? Darryl D’Monte summarises the key take-aways from a TISS conference that dwelled upon this and related issues.

Evidence of violation of environment regulation by the Adani group in their Mundra Port and SEZ Ltd and the Waterfront Development Project have been found. Kanchi Kohli reports on why both the projects are still moving ahead.

Debadityo Sinha discusses how a coal power plant managed to receive environmental clearance by giving false information, which the National Green Tribunal finally overturned.

It’s not the crop burning, stupid. It’s vehicles that create smog and the media should educate the public. Anup Kumar explains.

In this edition we look at the rising intolerance in country and how it can be alleviated as per the eminent historian Ms. Romila Thapar, how our nation is failing to nourish it's children, what is harming our coasts, natural flora and fauna, how we can use technology to make our society more equal and much more.

A few months of learning using the primers developed by Utthan have helped over 2000 women in the ravine regions of Bundelkhand so far; they no longer rely on the assistance of others for their daily reading needs. Freny Manecksha reports that crossing this threshold helps open the women many other doors too.

The current shape of government is too distributed to tackle the scale and complexity of the rural employment guarantee. A National-level autonomous body should be created solely for implementing the NREGA, and this agency should have the necessary authority, in addition to the responsibility, to manage the implementation, says Trilochan Sastry.

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.

Indian communists are often chastized for not supporting the Quit India movement of 1942. But a far greater crime of which they were guilty is little talked about nowadays. This took place six years later, when the Communist Party of India fomented an insurrection to strangle the infant Indian state at birth, writes Ramachandra Guha.

Darryl D'Monte talks about his recent participation in a discussion on Nayantara Sahgal's book on Nehru, which delves into Nehruvian policies, his cherished dreams, his lasting legacy and its importance in today's time.

The same combination of corporate interest and agricultural science that led to mindless use of pesticide is now turning to genetic engineerng, says Devinder Sharma.

"We were pushed out of the queues for food, relief material, an even drinking water", says Bama Rajazhagan, a dalit. But not all is gloomy in Nagapattinam; district machinery, voluntary organisations, and the army are lending support to rebuilding. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

Tulir, a Chennai-based NGO has been doing pioneering work in bringing to attention the widespread sexual abuse of children -- as high as 42 per cent in one Chennai survey. In 2006, Tulir was honoured with an International Award. Ambujam Anantharaman has more.

These days, select impoverished neighbourhoods in Chennai have become the nursery of future champion boxers. Girls in these neighbourhoods are receiving training in boxing, something that has given them the confidence to stand up for themselves and dream big, reveals Hema Vijay.

Stem rust, the worst of the three rusts that afflict wheat plants, has made a comeback. Wheat crops in Africa have been at its mercy and the fungus has already broken into the middle-east. India is directly in its path, scientists predict. Sudhirendar Sharma has more.

Ironically at a time when food shortage is being widely perceived as a potential global concern in the near future, policymakers seem to be doing everything that would take agriculture further down the path of ruin. Devinder Sharma highlights the findings of a recent NSSO report to substantiate that.

Gene Campaign writes to the Agriculture Minister demanding compensation for Indian farmers payable under the laws for failure of Monsanto-Mahyco's Bt cotton variety.

Studies from China and the US show the limitations of Bt-based resistance. The bollworm evolves to resist the toxin eventually, and a number of secondary pests remain unaffected. Suman Sahai argues that this is not really a workable strategy except in the first few years.

The debate in GM plants is deeply suffused by vested interests. In addition to impeding research, companies also exert their influence on review and approval, writes Sujatha Byravan.

Environmental activists and locals in Kerala's Ernakulam region allege with evidence that the Pollution Control Board is entirely ineffective in preventing contamination of the Periyar river. M Suchitra reports.

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

Second a series of articles on civil society and governance, Jayaprakash Narayan describes the prevailing situation.

Fourth in a series of articles on civil society and governance, Jayaprakash Narayan answers a few commonly discussed questions.

Sajan Venniyoor asseses the upcoming public consultations on the second phase of FM Licensing in India.

Tamilnadu's foray into e-governance has not yet lived upto potential because policy makers may be implementing top-driven projects with little public participation. Still, the state does have its own examples of how things could work. Krithika Ramalingam reports.

After a lengthy process of consultation and debate, a model code for good governance is at the government's doorstep. Vinay Baindur lists its salient points, which if embraced by the Central government could go a long way towards erasing the history of poor administration in the country.

Environmental clearances in India have always raised questions, as noted in many reports in India Together. For years now, NGOs have opposed the Ministry of Environment, sometimes bitterly. Last year, the Ministry proposed a 're-engineered' regulation, and found a new opposition - the state governments. Kanchi Kohli has more.

Four years on, positives seem to be weighed down by negatives -- thanks mainly to the aggressive land acquisition for mega real estate projects by the ruling LDF coalition. P N Venugopal wonders if the government’s confidence is at its low ebb.

It is an opportunity for the President to assert the authority and independence of his office by rejecting a clearly political move that is a slap in the face of constitutional morality, writes Nitin Pai.

Across Europe, as economies find themselves tottering in the face of deepening financial and social crises, various alternative initiatives are gaining ground, providing hope for a different future.  Ashish Kothari writes on some of these.

Pradeep Baisakh analyses a recently released report by human rights activists and civil society organizations to see how the present government has performed in the three years it has been in power.

Several schemes to address different Indian urban issues are introduced by the government. Prachee Mishra discusses the fiscal and policy level challenges these schemes will encounter.

Without a serious commitment from the government, and plagued by operational difficulties in managing its sheer size, the plan to improve school attendance through the provision of lunches for students has gone awry in Uttar Pradesh. Puja Awasthi reports.

Recent rulings by the Central Information Commission offer hope that decision-making in environmental regulation will be more transparent and participatory henceforth, and embrace suo moto disclosures. Kanchi Kohli reports.

The State Information Commissioners are supposed to uphold the RTI Act in their respective states. But their own appointments are shrouded in secrecy, writes Krishnaraj Rao.

Miko Branch, co-founder and chief executive of Miss Jessie's hair-care line, tells WSJ's Veronica Dagher about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, what it's like to work with major retailers and how wealth has changed her life.

The White House announced new guidelines Monday to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, and asked the public to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people. Photo: Erik S. Lesser/Shutterstock

Betsey Johnson gave fans a sneak peek at her dance moves when she brought “Dancing With the Stars” partner Tony Dovolani onto the runway after her New York Fashion Week show.

Global business leaders discuss why diversity and inclusion are important in the workplace—and what they do to make these issues a priority. The Wall Street Journal spoke to them at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The Wall Street Journal's first Financial Inclusion Challenge in the U.S. concluded with three finalists facing a panel of judges to answer questions about the impact and sustainability of their work. Hope Credit Union, based in Jackson, Miss., received the evening's top honors for its efforts to provide banking services in underserved regions of the American South. Video/Photo: Clara Ritger for The Wall Street Journal

Oprah Winfrey, Rex Tillerson, and Abby Wambach were just a few of the notable people chosen to give commencement addresses that stressed integrity, truthfulness, and courage. Here are some highlights from this year's speeches.

The European Union said Apple Inc. owes billions of dollars in unpaid taxes to Ireland ​after it ruled on Tuesday that a deal with Dublin allowed the company to avoid almost all tax ​on profits ​across the entire bloc for more than a decade. Here's what to know about the ruling.

Sources state that the proposal, which is likely to be voiced by President Pratibha Patil in her address to the joint Houses of Parliament on June 4 as one of the priorities of the government, is said to be the brainchild of Rahul Gandhi.

In 2019, many large tech firms announced plans to offer financial products and services. WSJ’s Liz Hoffman explains why Google, Apple, and others are offering products that might someday replace your wallet.

The best of India must stop running independent side-shows, and bring their energy and vision to well-constructed political spaces, and let this be their contribution to changing India, writes Surendra Srivastava.

The aggressive stance of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in exiting the NDA is not really a big surprise, but whether that can lead to the formation of a viable government by an United Third Front at the Centre leaves room for scepticism, says B.S. Nagaraj.