Distress signal
Karnataka s groundwater situation alarming, says report
Search Results
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Run of the mill
The Tarawera river in New Zealand was once an abundant source of food for the locals and the region's wildlife, but today, it is known as the black drain, thanks to the tonnes of toxic effluents
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INDIA
• The Goldman Environmental Foundation, US, recently awarded the annual environmental prize for Asia, worth US $75,000 to M C Mehta, a Supreme Court lawyer who has won about 40 landmark
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INDIA
• India was one of the signatories to the draft international convention on liability and compensation for damages in connection with the carriage of hazardous and rundous substances by sea,
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Autopsy of a betrayal
The Prime Minister has exposed his political immaturity on a matter as grave as the Sardar Sarovar Project and the bureaucracy has forced his feet into his mouth
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Drinking success
While Indians rant and rave against biopiracy, <i>Brahmi</i>, innovatively packaged, becomes a household name in the US. In India, manufacturers lose out on potential customers because of lack of imagination
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Oceanic disaster ahead
The latest findings of the Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System (COMAPS) offer us a gloomy picture about the health of the seas. The COMAPs has identified 25 locations of "hotspots"
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No more mess!
Public faith in governmental programmes being what they are, no wonder that the newly elected Thiruvananthapuram city corporation's announcement about cleaning up the city fetched no cheers.
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INDIA
• In a pathbreaking research, scientists from Kumaon University in Nainital, Uttar Pradesh, recently identified potential biological control agents for malaria in two parasitic fungi
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Network
Open secret With memories of the Cold War fading away, the Department of Energy (DoE) of the US government is planning to post an Internet web page for people hungry for nuclear secrets.
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Once upon a time...
The establishment of a research station called the Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations ZERO marks Denmark's maiden effort to study climate change. ZERO hopes to provide valuable information on the region's ecology apart from being of service to th
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Indian farmers can take on the multinationals
Sharad Joshi, the well known, controversial farm leader from Maharashtra, outlines a new strategy for agriculture.
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Forests of global contention
The South"s determined efforts to scuttle the forest convention that the North was adamant on pushing through was a major triumph. A blow-by-blow account of the crucial, often tricky, negotiation
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Rising from rubble
An African nation refuses international aid and sets up a highly ambitious agenda to stand on its own feet
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Wheeling dealing
Sweeping changes are in the offing for the European system
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INDIA
• Indian textile exporters will have no choice but to switch to eco-friendly dyes in view of the German ban on import of textiles using azo dyes. The ban will finally came into effect from April
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President's address courts 'aam adami'
Skirting commitments on all controversial issues like Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, the government today made it clear that pro-people, inclusive social and economic policies alone would be pursued in the last year of its five-year term. The President's address to the joint session of Parliament, traditionally a summary of the government's activities during the previous year and its priorities for the coming year, spelt out only those issues on which there was parliamentary consensus. Therefore, while showcase schemes like the expansion of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan were held up as ways in which the government had embraced the poor, contentious issues like Left extremism, land reforms and labour legislation were not even mentioned in the speech. Much was made of Bharat Nirman, the National Rural Health Mission and the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. This was made possible, the government said, because of the performance of the Indian economy that has grown at close to 9 per cent per annum for four years in a row. "The historically high investment rate, of over 35 per cent of GDP, and savings rate, of over 34 per cent of GDP, symbolise a new dynamism in our economy,' the government said in the address, adding that this was all the more creditable against the background of high international oil prices and rising commodity prices. The government said the Indian consumer would continue to be insulated against high international costs of food commodities and oil, putting paid to any tinkering in the duty structure and subsidies in oil and gas. The government said outlays on agriculture, health and rural development had been tripled and together with education, these sectors account for more than half of the Central Gross Budgetary Support as compared to less than one-third in the Tenth Five-Year Plan. "This is a major structural shift in Plan priorities, aimed at reducing disparities and empowering people,' the address said. It added that attention had been focused on areas like agriculture and the target set in the National Common Minimum Programme, of doubling agricultural credit in three years, had been exceeded. However, the government did not commit itself on the implementation of the Radhakrishna report on rural indebtedness. Conscious that it was under fire on the issue of agricultural prices, the address said the government had effected "an unprecedented steep hike of over 50 per cent in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat and about 33 per cent for paddy in the last four years'. Specific sectoral successes like the legislation for unorganised labour, increase in the level of minimum wage from Rs 66 to Rs 80 per day, increase in the eligibility limit for payment of bonus to workers from Rs 3,500 to Rs 10,000 per month, and the National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy for people displaced from their land due to development projects, were also mentioned as landmark schemes. Despite the prime minister's repeated warnings on the performance of the power sector, the President's address only patted itself on the back for allotment of coal blocks with the capacity to support 68,000 Mw of power generation and the identification of nine sites in for setting up coal-based Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP) with capacity of 4,000 Mw each. Nor was there any mention of when additional spectrum would be allotted for the telecom industry, even as the government announced that the Indian telecom sector had emerged as the fastest growing in the world with the addition of over 7 million subscribers per month. On SEZs, the address said the government had already provided direct employment to about 100,000 people, with indirect employment estimated at twice as much. "They have attracted investment of over Rs 50,000 crore, and are expected to generate exports of Rs 67,000 crore this year,' the address said. Meanwhile, the third front declared that the President's speech skirted around major problems facing the country, including that of continuing farmer suicides and inflation. The United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) leaders said they had support of UPA allies CPI(M) and CPI in their attempts to raise these issues in the public realm. According to the Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat and CPI leader A B Bardhan will be participating in a UNPA-sponsored dharna on farmer suicides to coincide with the presentation of the railway budget on Tuesday.
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International pressure and the civil society
Linking trade and environment benefits industrialised countries in every way. And they will promote their civil society to create a bigger and bigger fuss about it
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Way out of a fix
The heart of the matter is that the government must learn to work with the civil society, its media and the public
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Is free parking our inalienable right?
<p>‘We want free parking…..’ is the petulant tantrum of the rich in Delhi. Read this news…The trader association of one of the most happening, and upmarket area in Delhi – Khan Market has moved the High Court to oppose the orders of the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority to charge for parking.