A new report finds that civil society organisations in Africa struggle to get the support they need to play an effective role in natural resource management and conservation.

The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests under the Chairmanship of Shri Ashwani Kumar had decided to take up the issue of pollution levels of some of the Tier-II cities of the country.

The World Bank Group has done little to prevent or dissuade governments from intimidating critics of the projects it funds, or monitor for reprisals, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

Nearly 2.9 billion people still use polluting fuels like wood and coal to cook and heat their homes, at a huge cost to the society, in terms of health, environmental and economic costs, estimated at over US$123 billion every year according to this World Bank report. It provides a comprehensive picture of the current state of the global clean cooking sector and underlines urgent need to accelerate adoption of clean and efficient cooking solutions to reach sustainable energy goals by 2030.

The objective of the Guidelines is to institutionalize the role of NGOs in disaster management and to strengthen the quality, synergy and accountability of NGO systems in India. These Guidelines will be primarily utilized by administrators and NGO stakeholders in disaster management.