Environment

US President Donald Trump made the shocking, but not unexpected, announcement last week that the US is pulling out of the Paris Agreement (PA) on climate change. 195 countries had endorsed PA last December and … Read moreUS Exits Paris Agreement

With the worst of the winter pollution crisis in Delhi and other northern cities having subsided for the moment, the episodic clamour in the media, the judiciary, government agencies and among the public at large … Read moreFour Global Cities to Ban Diesel Vehicles by 2025

So here we are once again, winter and a blanket of severe pollution in Delhi and the north Indian plains in general. These columns carried an article on the subject last year too, and it … Read morePollution Chokes Delhi: Perennial Problem, Temporary Fixes

The government finally issued the long awaited gazette notification for the sharply compressed timetable for introduction of Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission norms for vehicles and other petroleum combustion engines, broadly conforming to the Euro … Read moreLeapfrogging to Stage VI Vehicular Emission Norms

There is some or other news almost every day about autonomous vehicles, also popularly known as “driverless” or self-driving cars. Either some or other company is announcing ever-earlier dates when it plans to introduce autonomous … Read moreSelf-driving Vehicles: Coming Soon!

The world is currently smashing temperature records one after the other, with 2016 now looking very likely to be the third year in a row as the hottest year on record since 1850. Already, we … Read moreWTO: The World Can Fry, but Trade Must Rule

India and the whole world has just witnessed the most horrible display of utter lack of concern for the environment by the Art of Living (AoL) foundation led by new- age guru Sri Sri Ravi … Read moreRavaging Yamuna flood plains: Art of Uncaring, Egoism and Cronyism

The short and temporary experiment in Delhi to combat severe air pollution by rationing road-use by personal 4-wheeled vehicles on alternate days, corresponding to odd or even numbered dates and license plates, is to end … Read moreUrban Air Pollution: Will Delhi Even Out the Odds?

After Delhi hit the news becoming the most polluted city in the world, the Supreme Court, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Delhi government have all got into the act. Diesel vehicles are the … Read moreIf Cities have to Breathe, Diesel Cars Need to Go

The apparently smooth approval and adoption on December 12th night of the Paris Agreement to control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the resultant climate crisis was greeted all over the world with huge relief and, … Read moreParis Climate Agreement: US has its Way

India finally announced its mitigation pledge last week, its so-called Intended Nationally Determined Contribution or INDC for the approaching Climate Summit in Paris in December this year which is expected to conclude an international agreement … Read moreIndia’s INDC for Paris Climate Summit

With much fanfare, US President Barack Obama took to the White House podium to announce, as part of his administration’s action plan on climate change, a new Clean Power Plan aimed at cutting carbon emissions … Read moreNew US Climate Plan: Optical Illusion