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Indian Express
6 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Pollution boards can seek damages, bank guarantees for future, says Supreme Court
In a significant decision aimed at empowering pollution control boards, the Supreme Court Monday held that they can seek compensation for restitution of damages already caused by polluting entities or demand bank guarantees to prevent any potential future environmental damage. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra set aside the Delhi HC Division Bench order which said the Boards are 'not empowered to levy compensatory damages in exercise of powers under Section 33A of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Section 31A of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 on the ground.' The HC held that such levy can be made only by courts, after taking cognisance of offences specified under the Acts. The SC said, 'having considered the principles that govern our environmental laws and on interpretation of Sections 33A and 31A of the Water and Air Acts, we are of the opinion that that the Division Bench of the High Court was not correct in restrictively reading powers of the Boards. We are of the opinion that these regulators in exercise of these powers can impose and collect, as restitutionary or compensatory damages, fixed sum of monies or require furnishing bank guarantees as an ex-ante measure towards potential or actual environmental damage.' The Delhi Pollution Control Board had approached the SC against the HC judgement which quashed the show cause notices issued by the Board to some residential complexes, commercial complexes and shopping malls which were allegedly constructed and were operating without obtaining the mandatory 'consent to establish' and 'consent to operate' under the Water Act and Air Act. The SC judgment said, 'The Board's powers under Section 33A of the Water Act and Section 31A of the Air Act have to be read in light of the legal position on the application of the Polluter Pays principle… This means that the State Board cannot impose environmental damages in case of every contravention or offence under the Water Act and Air Act. It is only when the State Board has made a determination that some form of environmental damage or harm has been caused by the erring entity, or the same is so imminent, that the State Board must initiate action under' the provisions. It directed that 'the powers must be exercised as per procedure laid down by subordinate legislation incorporating necessary principles of natural justice, transparency and certainty.' The court said that 'given their broad statutory mandate and the significant duty towards public health and environmental protection the Boards must have the power and distinction to decide the appropriate action against a polluting entity. It is essential that the Boards function effectively and efficiently by adopting such measures as is necessary in a given situation. The Boards can decide whether a polluting entity needs to be punished by imposition of penalty or if the situation demands immediate restoration of the environmental damage by the polluter or both.' The bench said, 'Our firm view is that remedial powers or restitutionary directives are a necessary concomitant of both the fundamental rights of citizens who suffer environmental wrongs and an equal concomitant of the duties of a statutory regulator… The State's 'endeavour to protect and improve the environment' will be partial, if it does not encompass a duty to restitute.' It said that 'of all the duties imposed under Article 51A (fundamental duties), the obligation to conserve and protect water and air, is perhaps the most significant, amidst our climate change crisis. The Water Act and the Air Act institutionalised all efforts and actions that need to be taken to protect air that we breathe and water that we consume by creating the Pollution Control Boards. These Boards functioning as our environment regulators are expected to act with institutional foresight by evolving necessary policy perspectives and action plans.'
Deccan Herald
03-08-2025
- General
- Deccan Herald
Soundarya School celebrates Guru Purnima
Soundarya School – State Board, Nagasandra, celebrated Guru Purnima to honour teachers' dedication. Chief guest Kshama Naragund delivered an inspiring speech on the Guru-Shishya bond. Sports Director Varun Kumar and principal Chinnamma Kaverappa encouraged students to value discipline and teamwork.
Economic Times
31-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Edtech firm Arivihan raises $4.17 million from Prosus, Accel
ETtech Arivihan, an edtech firm that offers automated, personalised coaching for school students, has raised $4.17 million in a funding round led by Dutch investment firm Prosus and Silicon Valley-based venture capital (VC) firm round also saw participation from GSF Investors. The funds will be used for expansion into three new states, growing its AI research and language support capabilities, and strengthening its on-ground marketing and distribution efforts. 'When we went to tier II cities, we found that 65% of the students were from Hindi-medium backgrounds. There weren't many platforms catering to them, as most didn't offer content or doubt-solving support in Hindi, especially at an affordable price,' cofounder and chief executive Ritesh Singh Chandel told ET. Founded in 2021 by Chandel, Sonu Kumar, and Rushabh Kothari, the Indore, Madhya Pradesh-based company provides a fully automated artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tutoring platform that offers personalised learning through interactive video lessons, instant doubt resolution, and AI-generated study plans in regional languages.'If you use any LLM directly, they are very general. They don't provide answers tailored to our students' syllabus, their level of understanding, or their language. That's why we use our open-source model, which we have fine-tuned with millions of data points derived from our syllabus to suit our students,' he said. The platform answers queries in both Hindi and primarily caters to Class 12 students from tier II and tier III cities and rural areas, offering support for those preparing for State Board exams, CBSE, and NEET. 'We started with the class 12 State Board exam in Madhya Pradesh and received a great response. Then we launched for NEET and saw a similarly positive response,' Chandel said, adding that the company has now begun expanding to Rajasthan and plans to further expand to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and company plans to expand its academic team, bring on board experienced NEET faculty, and strengthen its workforce across product, marketing, and engineering roles. This comes amid a broader push by edtech startups to invest in AI, which is driving personalised learning, adaptive assessments, and automated content creation.'In FY25, we sold around 15,000 subscriptions, which generated a revenue of around Rs 3.25 crore…We are resolving a monthly query of around seven lakh with the help of AI with 97% accuracy,' Chandel added. This year, the startup is targeting between 80,000 and one lakh subscribers. The company had earlier raised $750,000 in a previous round from Accel's seed-stage programme, Atoms. Commenting on the investment, Dhruv Gupta, investor at Prosus, said, 'At Prosus, we've been actively exploring breakthrough applications of AI across sectors, and education remains one of the most compelling frontiers.''Edtech in India has long struggled with cookie-cutter solutions and often unsustainable business models. The advent of GenAI changes both dramatically, which has been visible in Arivihan's traction and student outcomes so far,' said Anagh Prasad, investor at Accel. Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. As rates slide, who will grab the savings pie? MFs, insurers? Is it time for Tim Cook to bid bye to Apple? Regulators promote exchanges; can they stifle one? Watch IEX Stock Radar: Down over 20% from highs! Varun Beverages stock showing signs of trend reversal – time to buy? History tells us 'Hold' is equal to wealth creation: 11 large- and mid-cap stocks from different sectors with upside potential of up to 37% In some cases parentage equals 'management with ability': 5 mid-caps from different sectors, which tick the right box Multibagger or IBC - Part 17: Margins are slim. Promoters are all in. Is this small cap the ultimate contrarian bet?
Time of India
31-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Edtech firm Arivihan raises $4.17 million from Prosus, Accel
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Arivihan, an edtech firm that offers automated, personalised coaching for school students, has raised $4.17 million in a funding round led by Dutch investment firm Prosus and Silicon Valley-based venture capital (VC) firm Accel The round also saw participation from GSF funds will be used for expansion into three new states, growing its AI research and language support capabilities, and strengthening its on-ground marketing and distribution efforts.'When we went to tier II cities, we found that 65% of the students were from Hindi-medium backgrounds. There weren't many platforms catering to them, as most didn't offer content or doubt-solving support in Hindi, especially at an affordable price,' cofounder and chief executive Ritesh Singh Chandel told in 2021 by Chandel, Sonu Kumar, and Rushabh Kothari, the Indore, Madhya Pradesh-based company provides a fully automated artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tutoring platform that offers personalised learning through interactive video lessons, instant doubt resolution, and AI-generated study plans in regional languages.'If you use any LLM directly, they are very general. They don't provide answers tailored to our students' syllabus, their level of understanding, or their language. That's why we use our open-source model, which we have fine-tuned with millions of data points derived from our syllabus to suit our students,' he said. The platform answers queries in both Hindi and primarily caters to Class 12 students from tier II and tier III cities and rural areas, offering support for those preparing for State Board exams, CBSE, and NEET.'We started with the class 12 State Board exam in Madhya Pradesh and received a great response. Then we launched for NEET and saw a similarly positive response,' Chandel said, adding that the company has now begun expanding to Rajasthan and plans to further expand to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and company plans to expand its academic team, bring on board experienced NEET faculty, and strengthen its workforce across product, marketing, and engineering roles. This comes amid a broader push by edtech startups to invest in AI, which is driving personalised learning, adaptive assessments, and automated content creation.'In FY25, we sold around 15,000 subscriptions, which generated a revenue of around Rs 3.25 crore…We are resolving a monthly query of around seven lakh with the help of AI with 97% accuracy,' Chandel year, the startup is targeting between 80,000 and one lakh company had earlier raised $750,000 in a previous round from Accel 's seed-stage programme, on the investment, Dhruv Gupta, investor at Prosus, said, 'At Prosus, we've been actively exploring breakthrough applications of AI across sectors, and education remains one of the most compelling frontiers.''Edtech in India has long struggled with cookie-cutter solutions and often unsustainable business models. The advent of GenAI changes both dramatically, which has been visible in Arivihan's traction and student outcomes so far,' said Anagh Prasad, investor at Accel.
The Hindu
28-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Procedure to redress chemically contaminated sites gets legal teeth
The Environment Ministry has notified new rules under the Environment Protection Act that lays out a process to address sites that are chemically contaminated. Called the Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025, these give a legal structure to the process of contamination, that until now was missing despite several sites being already identified across the country for decades. Contaminated sites, according to the Central Pollution Control Board, are those where hazardous and other wastes were dumped historically. This has most likely resulted in contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water that pose a risk to human health and the environment. Some of the sites were contaminated when there was no regulation on management of hazardous wastes. In some instances, polluters, responsible for contamination, have either shut their operations or the cost of remediation is beyond their capacity, thus the sites remain a threat to the environment. These sites may include landfills, dumps, waste storage and treatment sites, spill sites, and chemical waste handling and storage sites. There are 103 such sites across the country. Only in seven sites remedial operation has commenced, which involves cleaning the contaminated soil, groundwater, surface water and sediments by adopting appropriate technologies. A senior official in the Environment Ministry told The Hindu that the latest rules — made public on July 25 — were part of a process of 'legally codifying' the process in place once contaminated sites were identified. Under these rules, the district administration would prepare half-yearly reports on 'suspected contaminated sites'. A State Board, or a reference organisation, would examine these sites and provide a 'preliminary assessment' within 90 days of being thus informed. Following these, it would have another three months to make a detailed survey and finalise if these sites were indeed 'contaminated'. This would involve establishing the levels of suspected hazardous chemicals – there are currently 189 marked ones under the provisions of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules 2016 – and if these exceeded safe levels, the location of these sites would be publicised and restrictions placed on accessing it. A 'reference organisation' — basically a body of experts — would be tasked with specifying a remediation plan. The State Board would also have 90 days to identify the person(s) responsible for the contamination. Those deemed responsible would have to pay for the cost of remediation of the site, else the Centre and the State — under a prescribed arrangement — would arrange for the costs of clean-up. 'Any criminal liability, if it is proved that such contamination caused loss of life or damage would be under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023),' the official told The Hindu. However, contamination resulting from radioactive waste, mining operations, pollution of the sea by oil, solid waste from dump sites would not be dealt with under the provisions of these laws as they are governed by separate legislation.
