The National Biodiversity Authority has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and …
IN SEPETEMBER 1995, the presidents of the five republics which constitute the watershed of the Aral Sea - Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan met in Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan, the autonomous republic of Uzbekistan (the worst affected by the tragedy). This was the fourth meeting of the presidents …
Muynak, which once lay on the coast of the Aral Sea nearly 70 km away from it. And since there is no road salty, toxic desert that has replaced the former seabed, it is no difficult to reach the Aral Sea from there. But a few determind fisherfoik still commute …
Sriprakash, whose previous film, Kiski Raksha (Whose Safety), on Netarhat - which presented the conflict between the army and local tribes - has finished his second film. Addo Milad Wgulan (Another Revolt) Is a documentary on the tribal movement of Bihar. This time around It describes the 30-year-old struggle against …
No more John Brunner, the noted British science fiction writer, died of a heart attack at the age of 60. Brunner was well known for experimenting with form and paid great attention to contemporary social issues. He shot to fame with his novel Stand on Zanzibar in 1969. He had …
Since it is apparently de rigeur for every reviewer to begin with a criticism, it will be best to follow PeoL What could be Wamcbmt than the that the book Mrately the reader? Altho MIS dde claims to the issue of value of biodiver *a am does nothing kind. And …
The past couple of decades has seen massive progress in the field of genetics and its role in individual differences and developments. Development and behavioural potential of individuals is determined by dna in the genome, but behavioural patterns may be moulded by environmental factors. Quantitative genetic methods can be used …
Those who wanted to know all about patents and trade- marks but didn't know where to find it can now help themselves through books like Patent Wars (Fred Warshofsky), Copyrights Highway (Paul Goldstein), and Peculiar Patents (Rick Feinberg). This trio in their unique style educate the readers an all that …
International law is heading rapidly towards protecting the environment; it will gradually replace the initiative taken by national governments to base such laws on national public opinion. Between 1946, when the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling was first adopted, and 1994, when the International Convention to Combat Desertification …
The New Science Journalists is packed with the kind of science reporting that is intelligent, well-written, entertaining and educative. The editors of the book, like the participants of the Blinding with Science conference, feel that the general public lacks understand- ing and appreciation ofscience. A few people have suggested that …
THE wave of international concern for vanishing biological diversity has identified a new field of prospecting - vanishing peoples. The us-based 'Human Genome Diversity Project' is intent on collecting tissue samples from 700 endan gered indigenous societies, whom it refers to as 'isolates of historic interest'. It aims to 'immortalise' …
THE Himalayan national park in the Kulu district of Himachal Pradesh has been chosen for a Rs 6.5 crore World Bank-aided project to conserve its existing biodiversity. The park, which covers an area of more than 700 sq km, provides sanctuary to some 300 species of birds (including pheasants and …
An international conference on "Using Diversity" was organised by the South Asian office of the International Development Research Centre in New Delhi between June 19-21, 1995. The main focus of the conference was enhancing and conserving agricultural or cultivated diversity. The discussion revolved around understanding farmer seed and variety systems, …
Noted agro-economist N S Jodha had said in one of his papers that "in the search for innovativeness in drought management, public policies have bypassed an important source of insight -- the coping strategies of farmers". This book is a step forward towards understanding the farmers' knowledge, and the actual …
The contentious issue of management, utilisation and conservation of bioresources was sought to be resolved in 1992 with the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at the Rio Summit. The Convention is an important tool of diplomacy, termed "biodiplomacy" by the editors of this interesting compilation on the …
A TIME will soon come when the health and wealth of a nation will be measured in terms of its biodiversity. This will be the foundation of the development of future technologies. It is this wealth that is facing destruction today. Biodiversity is a part of the larger ecosystem in …
CANADIAN and US newsprint producers are increasingly evading their governments' environmental regulations which require a recycled content of 4060 per cent in newsprint. "But when there is a shortage of newsprint, nobody worries about how much recycled content you have in it," said a senior executive in a Canadian firm. …
The British government's volte face on the ban on advertising breast milk substitutes has triggered alarm in medical circles. On March 1, the government tabled before Parliament a watered down regulation that will allow advertising in publications distributed through the public healthcare system. This law is at odds with a …
DO CIVILISATION and environmental devastation have to be synonymous? Going by the mess Earth is in, it would seem so. Environment has, however, become a buzzword, and behind all the hoopla that such an honour brings are pockets of concern and damage control. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), …
AS THE Global Environment Facility (GEF) moves beyond its pilot phase, cut-throat competition is generating a tide of proposals aimed at a slice of its US $2 billion pie. Ironically, the ministry of environment and forests (MEF), the nodal agency in the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) dealing with GEF, has only …
How can agricultural biotechnology help meet the world's food needs in the coming century? Till about 1984, beginning with the Green Revolution in the late '60s, the rate of increase in food production was about 3 per cent annually, compared to the population growth, which was a little over 2 …
