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  • 14/06/2006

policy on environment: On May 18, the Union cabinet approved the controversial National Environment Policy. The sanction came after much dithering and after the daft made several rounds of the prime minister's office, union environment ministry and ministry of law for over two years.

The first draft, which came out in 2004, had come under heavy criticism from civil society groups and activists. Several protests had taken place, all over the country, against the draft, which was said to have ignored many important aspects of environmental governance. Since 2004 the process of finalising the draft has been kept under wraps and it is not clear what changes have taken place over the earlier draft. blue lady: The Gujarat Pollution Control Board, on May 14, 2006, barred the French cruise liner S S Norway alias Blue Lady, from entering Indian waters. The ban will continue till the committee of technical experts appointed by the Supreme Court decides the further course of action. Environmentalists say the Blue Lady is among the 50 most toxic ships in the world and is carrying nearly 900 tonnes of asbestos and other globally banned toxic and carcinogenic substances.

Meanwhile, the French warship Le Clemenceau, caught in a similar controversy, docked in the Brest port, in the northwestern France on May 17, after a lengthy and controversial journey under tow to India and back.

ayurveda faulted: A New Zealand medical journal has warned against using Indian traditional medicines, saying that eight people in the country suffered lead poisoning after consuming Ayurvedic formulations. The journal claims that the patients had taken medicines for male infertility: a daily dose of four tablets, each containing 10 milligrammes of lead.

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