The Supreme Court (SC), May 1, 2025 made it clear that all applications would have to be made to the court seeking permission to fell trees irrespective of the number of trees to be felled as far as areas located within an aerial distance of 5 kilometers from the Taj …
the secret behind the preservation of centuries-old caves and painting seems to have been revealed. According to conservationists, silver fish, wasps and other insects that destroy rock paintings do not make caves their home once they smell the presence of their natural enemy
The Supreme Court has directed "The Commission Management Board' of the Uttar Pradeh government headed by its chief secretary to appear before it and explain why the court's order relating to the creation of a green belt around Taj Mahal has not been implemented. The two-judge bench was responding to …
When it rains it burns Acid rain has already been reported in some parts of India, and the situation is likely to get worse India faces an increasing threat from acid rain
Scientists became aware of acid rain more than a century ago A cid rain is not a recent phenomenon. The term was first coined in 1852 by a chemist, Robert Angus Smith. The 35-year-old chemist, while studying the quality of air in and around his home town Manchester, England, found …
Human activities have made the sky a sewer. Subhash J Rele, writing in The Hindustan Times , estimates that each year, the global atmosphere is on the receiving end of 20 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, 130 million tonnes (mt) of sulphur dioxide, 97 mt of hydrocarbons, 53 mt of …
The concept paper describes the problems of the city of Agra and the anxeityy of the Hon'ble Supreme Court articulated in the various orders passed in connection with the Writ Petition (Civil) No. 13381/84-M.C. Mehta Vs. Union of India & Others. The paper also goes on to describe the various …
BENEATH the streets of London lie the remains of Londinium, an outpost of the only empire to run Britain from abroad, say archaeologists from the Museum of London. The course of a long-disappeared river and the truncated foundations of a massive arch, which straddled a Roman road, have been unearthed …
THE National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML) and Tata Korf have jointly developed a clean technology blast furnace at Agra that would lower the sulphur dioxide (so2) emissions and fine dust from the hundreds of foundries around the Taj Mahal. The laboratory has developed the technology and transferred to Tata Korf, which …
A Han dynasty work of art that was sold recently in New York for us $2.5 million may have been stolen from the area to be flooded by the Three Gorges Dam. Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, an archaeologist and art historian based at New York University, has found similarity between the sold …
the Rhone-Poulenc Foundation of France, in a collaboration with unesco and the Archaeological Survey of India ( asi ), has launched an ambitious restoration programme for the majestic Taj Mahal. The us $236,000 three-year programme will include extensive research on the conservation of materials used originally in the construction of …
Several architects, conservators and planners have criticised the proposed Delhi Heritage Bill 1997 as it leaves out many heritage sites from its preview. At a seminar held recently at School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, they suggested that more categories under heritage should be included in the legislation: …
A radar of the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) has found long-lost ruins of temples in the jungles at Angkor, Cambodia. In the 12th century, nearly one million people were staying in the city. Scientists at the NASA have located two temple sites that are very close to each other. …
scientists have discovered new evidence of a prehistoric civilisation and remnants of ancient temples in Angkor, Cambodia. For this purpose, they have used highly detailed maps produced with data from an airborne imaging radar instrument created by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (nasa). Scientists say the finding was made …
DOES a magazine like Down To Earth (DTE) have the right to critique the research of a "prestigious national institution" like the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute? NEERI, which belongs to the massive, government-funded CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) family does not appear to think that way. With …
this time it's not the scarcity but an excess of water that is causing problems in the desert city of Jaisalmer in the western state of Rajasthan. The famous Sonar kila , the world largest living fortress, has started collapsing gradually due to excessive discharge of waste water by the …
in a December 1996 ruling on a public interest petition, the Supreme Court ordered 292 coke coal-based industries in the trapezium zone of the historical Taj Mahal to either close down, pull out or switch over to gas-based fuel by April 30, 1997. In a strictly-worded verdict, the court ruled …
Judgement of the Supreme Court of India on Taj Mahal dated 30/12/1996 in the matter of M. C. Mehta Vs Union of India & Others. The judges noted that the Taj is threatened with deterioration and damage not only by the traditional causes of decay, but also by changing social …
playing to environmentalists, President Clinton declared 6,885,00 ha of Utah desert and red rock canyons a national monument, shielding them from future development. In another appeal for the
One of the things which is striking about Mayan archaeological sites in Latin America is the blue colour used on pottery. Till recently, the origin of this unique colour and its resistance to biocorrosion were mysteries. Now, scientists from Mexico have carried out high resolution electron microscopy alongwith X-ray microanalysis …
