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 …
STILL reeling from an unsuccessful bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) just before it became operative on January 1 this year, China has nevertheless signalled its intention to keep plugging away. But with the US sticking to its stubborn stand on intellectual property rights and greater trade access, …
THE first Conference of Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Nassau in the Bahamas, which concluded in the 2nd week of December 1994, showed a shift in focus on certain key issues. The member nations seemed more concerned with issues like bio-safety and the dangers posed …
INDIA decided to accept the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as the main funding mechanism for the biodiversity convention in a volte face of its earlier stand taken at the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) at Rio in 1992. Highly placed sources revealed that the Union ministry …
China's recent decision to ban tobacco advertising may send the ambitions of international cigarette giants up in spoke. With a population of nearly 1.2 billion and one of every three smokers in the world, the Chinese market offers new opportunities for majors such as Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco who …
The Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) will pass a new labour code this winter, says a Panos report. The code proposes to reform 44 labour laws by broadly categorising them and removing their inconsistencies. The changes drafted by the National Labour Law Commission are: waiving of restrictions on employment of women …
Good news for those down with malaria. Manuel Patarroyo, a biochemist from Colombia, claims that he is about to develop a vaccine against the disease, one of the oldest scourges of mankind. The vaccine is being tested in tropical countries like Tanzania and Thailand. Reports from Tanzania indicate that Patarroyo's …
It's not time yet to write the obituary of urban biodiversity. A recent study by Czech ecologist Pavel Pysek reveals that European cities host a large number of wild plants. Berlin tops the list with 1,432 species, while Polkowice, a small city in western Poland, is at the bottom. Pysek …
This project would conserve biodiversity by implementing the ecodevelopment stratey in and around eight protected areas (PAs) and would also include support for preparing future biodiversity projects.
The Clinton government is impatient as the Senate continues blocking the ratification of the Biodiversity Treaty. The treaty, a product of the 1992 Earth Summit, aims at protecting all plant and animal species. President Clinton agreed to sign it after drawing up, in subjective, interpretive language, the that the administration …
AMONG the many grand schemes consigned to the commodious dustbin of the 20th century, a special place belongs to an oxymoron called democracy. Its disenchantments have directly given rise to the call for "another development", the notion of participatory movements on the ground which can, in theory, undermine existing power …
A NATION'S track record in its race for development leans heavily on its natural resources. Ferreting out and exploiting these resources cause severe environmental wrenching. Invariably, mineral wealth, particularly in India, is found in and around forest areas harbouring tribal populations, flora and fauna and microhabitat diversity. The "environment vs …
EVEN as debate on conservation of biodiversity gathers momentum, tropical forests which account for between 40 to 90 per cent of the world's biodiversity, seem to be fighting a losing battle against deforestation. According to the report People and the Environment, released recently by the US-based World Resources Institute, the …
WHEN the birds stop chirping and go into hiding, you can expect a storm. When the ants begin to march, you know rain is on its way. In the same manner, some species of plants and animals behave in ways that warn of possible environmental damage -- as "early warning …
A RECENT environment impact assessment (EIA) report on the Narmada Sagar Project (NSP), one of the largest dams in the Narmada valley development project to be located in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh, claims that it could wipe out many species of flora and fauna. According to the EIA …
THE industrialised world seems to be sincerely following up on George Bush's swaggering statement in early 1992 that the lifestyle of us citizens is "not negotiable". It shows no inclination to thrash out the problem of rising greenhouse gas emissions, but instead wants to jump the gun and start "joint …
This indicative plan has based on the work of field/park directors and their colleagues in the eight protected areas, and of various non-governmental organisations involved in carrying out PRA in the proposed project area. The final output has benefit greatly from the inputs of the various national consultants and consulting …
A group of leading agricultural scientists in the country has called for the patenting of plant and animal biodiversity to be emphasised in order to ensure the introduction of an effective germplasm bank. In their paper, Genesis of farmers' prosperity and the gatt agreement, R K Patel, vice-chancellor, Rajasthan Agricultural …
THE world seems to be edging back to the nuclear precipice that it had thought it had backed out gingerly from at the end of the Cold War. Between May and August this year, the German police seized 4 consignments of weapons-grade nuclear material from various parts of the country. …
THIS is the 6th in the World Resources series -- which provides information on environment and development -- and has a special focus on people and the environment. These chapters deal with natural resource consumption, population and the environment, and women and sustainable development. A 2nd section has a regional …
THE defining feature of modern, Western medical perception is the dominance of the laboratory -- it is the biomedical laboratory which determines whether you are 'sick' or 'healthy', it gives you the drugs, and in the medical profession has the highest prestige attached to it. And, of course, as preventive …
