Air pollution is the largest killer among all environmental problems worldwide, ambient air pollution in India alone accounts for more than a million deaths annually (about 10% of all deaths), and the
Air pollution has large impacts on the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), affecting not just the health of people and ecosystems, but also climate, the cryosphere, monsoon patterns, water availability, agriculture, and incomes (established but incomplete). Although the available data are not comprehensive, they clearly show that the HKH receives significant amounts of air pollution from within and outside of the region, including the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), a region where many rural areas are severely polluted. In addition, the HKH receives trans-boundary pollution from other parts of Asia.
Dr. Farzana Afridi was one of the economists to meet the Prime Minister Among other things, she mentioned the effect of the Ujjwala Yojana on women's work based on her research in rural Indore in…
Professor E Somanathan and Dr. Farzana Afridi discuss ongoing work, aided by ASHA workers, on raising awareness about the detrimental health impacts of using solid fuels for cooking and the need for…
Although intentional use of fires to transform land has decreased globally (1, 2), particularly among highly capitalized countries through regulatory and market-orientedapproaches and moral suasion, regulatory strategies have been less effective in southern and eastern Asia (see table S21). Some densely populated agricultural regions in China and India buck the global trend, showing increases in agricultural fires (2).
Commodity price cycles can arise when there is a tendency to invest more (less) when current prices are high (low). Traditionally this behavior is interpreted as based upon naïve expectations. However, weak financial institutions can also cause this behavior. When borrowing is hard and saving is risky farmers cannot invest
In this research, we investigate whether urban rail transit expansion improves air quality. We also compare the magnitudes of the effects across cities and explain the variation. The results suggest that opening subways alleviated air pollution, especially during non-rush hours in the daytime. We find that the effects are smaller in the cities with higher income and more subway lines, while the effects are larger in the cities with higher population density. Furthermore, the effect of the first subway line opening is stronger, compared to expansion of an existing subway system.
The high rates of economic activity and environmental degradation in Asia demand the implementation of creative and cost-effective environmental policy instruments that provide polluters with more flexibility to find least-cost solutions to pollution reduction. Despite their many theoretical advantages, the use of market-based instruments (MBIs) is a relatively recent phenomenon in Asia, partly due to policymakers being unfamiliar with MBIs and countries lacking the institutional capacity to implement and enforce them.
